Odyssey of the Pacific

Hoang, a young Cambodian refugee, spends the summer in the countryside. He strikes up a friendship with Lis and Toby, niece and nephew of the folks who welcomed him to Canada. Toby is a dreamer with a highly vivid imagination. He sees himself in a sumptuous circus, or conducting a symphonic orchestra, or better still crossing the universe onboard a super spaceship. The kids discover an old Pacific steam engine in the forest, very near the shack where the former driver lives, old Thubal, who calls himself the Emperor of Peru. With the children's help, he intends to restore the steam engine to its past splendour. But Hoang misses his mother, whom he left behind on a beach in Cambodia. The kids take charge of the steam engine and depart for a fantastical voyage around the world.