Getting There Summary

Richard refers to the boat captain as a "spiv", which is a British term for a petty thief. Richard keeps his head over the side of the boat the entire trip, mesmerized by the fish and the water. When they reach the island and are dropped off the boat, Richard feels the need to explore the island and be on his own for a while. He sits down for a cigarette, and at this point, the present day Richard talks about how he wants to always remember this point in his story while Thailand was still a good memory and the adventure was still exciting and fun.

When he returns to the French couple, Etienne is preparing dinner and Francoise is down on the beach gauging how long their swim will be to the destination island. The next morning as they...