Cambodia will forever be home to our favorite city…Siem Reap.
You need to include Cambodia in your bucket list. Not only is Angkor Wat a short tuk-tuk ride away, but this Wonder of the World isn’t the only reason to visit. When delicious food, ancient history, and friendly locals combine, it’s something you don’t want to miss!
Morgan and I spent a total of three weeks in Siem Reap. While we love being spontaneous and experiencing new things, we are still creatures of habit. It doesn’t take long for us to find “our spot”. That one specific place you’re drawn to no matter the circumstance.
You know what I mean right?
Whether it be a favorite coffee shop, specific booth in a restaurant, or shaded area of the beach. We all have our spots. In Siem Reap, it took a total of 1 day to discover ours.
Our spot was Temple Coffee n Bakery.
An incredible two story bar, coffee shop, dinner spot, dessert factory, swinging couch heaven…the list goes on and on. It’s a place you wouldn’t expect to find in Cambodia, especially Siem Reap.
The pictures don’t do it justice. Imagine a modern looking tiki hut with two floors of swinging couches covered in fluffy pillows lined up across the walls. In terms of the food: quality of a steakhouse, options like Cheesecake Factory, and prices like McDonalds dollar menu.
Yeah, it’s possible.
Here’s why this was our spot (if the above list wasn’t enough):
- It hid us from insane rainstorms
- It hid us from insane heat
- Like any “spot”, it’s got memories
While you can somewhat avoid the rain by deciding to travel during the hot season, the Cambodian heat can be overwhelming. We were fortunate enough to get a mix of both. If it was pouring rain in the morning, it could be 90 degrees four hours later. Temple was our safe haven. Thankfully, the managers would still let us in if we were dripping wet.
Now, on to the memories!
The first ones a little rough…
If you’ve been reading our blog for awhile, you’ll know that Morgan is gluten free. While it’s somewhat difficult to avoid gluten in Asia (soy sauce being the main issue), the language barrier adds another layer of confusion. Let’s just say that there’s a certain Italian restaurant with gluten free options in Siem Reap with waiters who don’t speak English…
Morgan had been waiting months to have a good bowl of pasta, slice of pizza, and really anything gluten free.
*Can you see where this is going…?*
For those who aren’t familiar with the results of eating gluten when intolerant, you’re lucky. Once we realized the bill didn’t say gluten free on Morgan’s pasta (because there’s an extra charge), we thought maybe the cashier gave us a discount!
Nope. Definitely not.
The second we saw the cashier’s confused look, we knew Morgan was going to have a rough night. I’ll never forget the second we locked eyes and simultaneously thought, “Oh shit”. Literally.
After a heated conversation with the restaurant owner, we headed straight to Temple and posted up at the booth nearest the bathroom.
So why would this memory make Temple our favorite spot in Siem Reap, Cambodia?
It’s cause we felt safe. There was no discussion about where to go because Morgan needed to relax in a comfortable place.
We’re happy to say we have a more uplifting memory at Temple…
It was the night before heading to Phnom Phen, our last night in Siem Reap. Instead of staying in our hotel room, where do you think we went?
While we waited for our night bus, we left our bags in our room and headed to Temple. One of our last memories of Siem Reap was having a couple drinks in our swinging couch on the second floor while smiling and laughing in “our spot”. That mix of friendly locals, delicious food, and *most importantly* air conditioning creates that atmosphere you strive for when traveling.
To this day, almost one year ago exactly, we think about the memories we shared and the thought of returning some day.
We’ll be writing more posts about Cambodia in the upcoming months. If you’re going back and forth about where to travel to next, you’ll be making the right choice by visiting Siem Reap.
We hope you enjoyed this post. Please like, comment, and follow us on Instagram and Facebook!
Read More About Our Adventures Outside of Cambodia: Gluten Free In Asia, Backpacking Tips, You Need These Apps To Travel, and Lessons Learned While Traveling Part 1 + Part 2.
walkingonairdotblog.wordpress.com 