The Beach

by Alex Garland

“It’s like my granddad taught me. He was a colonel in the U.S. Marines. Sammy, he’d say, the ends always justify the means. And you know what, Richard? He was right.”

Set up in Bali, Koh Phangan, Koh Tao, Boracay, and the hordes are bound to follow. There’s no way you can keep it out of the Lonely Planet, and once that happens it’s countdown to doomsday. But set up in a Marine park, where you aren’t even supposed to be…

Eventually, craving something to occupy my mind, I went to Keaty’s tent and dug out his Nintendo.

How does this Nintendo get its power? And if there's power for a Nintendo, why not use it for something more intriguing?

“No more rice means a Rice Run. Now we get some new batteries.”

And the answer is given...

“Uh…okay. Spicy chicken noodles too. We’re in Thailand, after all.” Jed stood up, glancing over his shoulder toward the sunbathers on the beach. “I’ll take your word for it,” he said dryly, then went to place our order.

I knew my affection for the Philippines was equally as telling: a democracy on paper, apparently well ordered, regularly subverted by irrational chaos. A place where I’d felt instantly at home.