Blog

There is nothing quite like feeling like a little kid again.... or like Indiana Jones depending on who you are but that is exactly how it felt to be running through all of the ruins of Tha Phrom, a close neighbor of Angkor Wat. When you go to the vast majority of temples surrounding Angkor Wat you walk through history, staring taking photos down hallways and through corridors, you go looking at the intricate stone work of a place that has been around for hundreds o… Read more

After a strenuous few days partaking in service projects in Angtasom and Kampot we were looking forward to a more relaxed couple of days in the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. We woke up early and said goodbye to the Mango Trees guesthouse - a place that we all agreed was our favourite accommodation on the trip so far. We drove around 4 hours to Phnom Penh and made a stop at the Killing Fields. Walking through Killing Fields was an educational and emotional experience… Read more

Day 43 marked a new chapter in our adventure. We bussed all day and arrived at the Meas Family Homestay just in time or dinner. We ate curry, spring rolls and soup with noodles. I didn't eat this kind of food before this trip, and yet, that meal strangely tasted like home. The following morning, when I awoke to the smell of pancakes, real, fluffy American pancakes, (with freshly made mango jam!) I realized that last nights meal was no exception. I discovered that S… Read more

From Hue, we traveled to the sea side town of Hoi An. After hearing so many positive reviews we were all excited to have three days to explore the area! With its quaint streets lined with tailors, colorful shops, delicious restaurants and its close proximity to the beach, we were soon all in love with the town! Many of us had clothes made - ranging from winter coats to summer dresses, suits and shoes. It was exciting to see the clothes take shape from picking the … Read more

There are so many cool things about this trip that have been going on so far, I would be writing a book if I named all of them but there are two things in particular that I hear us talk about the most. One is the fact that we all get along so well and are such great friends already and two; that we get to do so many amazing things that push us out of our comfort zones. We are now half way through the trip and have experienced so many new things together, I'm so beyond co… Read more

I sat in a dimly lit kitchen, slicing cauliflower. I thought I was doing fairly well until my efforts were met with a gleeful cackle. "Too small!" Me crowed, poking at my minuscule cauliflower. I crowded my shoulders protectively over my vegetables, crying out "they're more edible this way!" Me and Kerr, our trekking guides were having a few of us (Joei, Jen, Shani) help them prepare a dinner along with the owners of the home stay. As all of the Vietnamese women p… Read more

Imagine yourself, sitting on a one-meter-wide wooden boat, a full-ball sun beating down on your sleep-deprived body. You want to sleep - need to, in fact - but you can't imagine how in the world you are going to mold your body into a comfortable enough position to get some satisfying rest. What do you do? Don't fret: Pack Disco crew to the rescue. I don't think I've ever seen such creativity, in any form, as I saw on those boats. Bodies conformed into unfathomable shape… Read more

Our next journey was to Wat Suan Dok, a Buddhist meditation retreat where curious people from all over the world congregate to immerse themselves in the life of a Thai monk. As our individual sense of style and colorful elephant pants were replaced with blank white “mindfulness” t-shirts and very baggy meditation pants, the theme of unification and the sacrifice of Westernized culture became brutally evident. Prior to our arrival we were able to attend a “monk chat” and… Read more

This week, Pacific Discovery embarked on an exciting, strenuous, yetrewarding adventure at Elephant Nature Park founded by a remarkable Thai woman named Lek. We arrived with not much knowledge of the exploitation and cruelty that elephants suffer not only in Thailand, a place where the elephant is a religious icon, but all throughout Asia. In Thailand alone, there are only around 5,000 elephants left today, compared to it's original population of 100,000 elephants… Read more

We started our weekend early Saturday morning, taking 'songthaews' from our guesthouse in Chiang Mai to meet everyone from CMRCA (Chiang Mai Rock Climbing Adventures). We met our wonderful Thai guides, G, Add, Bo, and Ooan and played some fun team building games. We then learned the ropes to rappelling and rock climbing -practicing inside Anxiety State Crisis Cave (not the most reassuring name…). Many people in the group tried tackling the more difficult climbs and every… Read more