John's holiday in India begins badly. His girlfriend returns home after falling ill and he finds himself at the end of a knife in a train station latrine. But then he meets Rick, an enigmatic, streetwise traveller, who persuades him to embark on a series of increasingly bizarre journeys.

Late at night in a seedy hotel, Richard is drawn into a strange conversation with a fellow guest. He hears for the first time of a secret beach hidden somewhere in the scattered islands of a Thai marine park. The next morning, Richard finds a map pinned to his door, and the man who put it there has slashed his wrists.

Considers how and why people live in harsh environments. The author looks at the geographical and meteorological conditions. He meets local characters and discovers the history of these settlements to find out how they ever became populated. He looks at the way both the population, and the flora and fauna, have adapted physically to the climate.