Sand Under My Feet: Siem Reap Travel Diary: Temple Club at Pub Street

I’m one of those people who believes that travel breaks down routines, monotony and brings back some adventure, excitement, and exploration to people’s lives. For the most part of last year, my life was just pre-occupied with work, blogging-related events and random brunches and night-outs with friends. Nothing really spectacular or mind-blowing. And that, if not for most people, will cause some burn-out. And nothing can cure that for me than board a plane or a boat or a bus and go somewhere, wherever... You know, to fall in love with cities I’ve never been to and people I’ve never met. (Yes, I got that from a quote which I like so much.)

Together with three of my friends, we planned for an out-of-the country multi-city trip. And these places were our dream destinations for years now. This trip was supposed to happen last 2016 but got put off for unforeseen reasons. Since June of 2017, after booking our flights, I’ve been looking forward to the day when we finally get to board the plane and start our 6-day journey.

You know how that can be daunting, waiting for around 6 months for something to finally happen. The main airport in Manila is near where I work, and almost every few minutes I can hear airplanes passing by, and I would be so disconsolate thinking about when I’ll get to board one of those planes again and wishing that I can fast-forward time and make it December already. And then time flew fast and it was December.

I couldn’t be more excited as I’ve already done all that I need to do, bought all that I need to bring, planned even the outfits I’ll wear and started packing 2 weeks before the trip. The destination? Siem Reap, Cambodia and Bangkok, Thailand. For the next several posts, I’ll be writing a series about our Siem Reap trip and then we’ll get to Bangkok later on. These blog post series won't be about our itinerary or a guide or review (because for sure there are a hundreds of that already on the internet) but will tackle about my experience during this trip and all other thoughts. Besides this is written 6 months past that trip so this will be more of a reminiscing journal.
We board a plane to Siem Reap on a late night flight and arrived around 10 or 11pm. The hotel we were staying at sent a tuktuk to pick us up, and I couldn't be more ecstatic because by the time I set foot on this foreign land I already got a taste of its culture. Siem Reap for me looks just like any rural tourist area in the Philippines, even its people, the only difference is that all the signage et al, is written in Cambodian.

Our tuktuk driver and tour guide, Sarath (who speaks very good English btw) suggested that we take the Angkor Complex tour the first thing the next morning which everyone agreed to. We have to be up by 3am the following day so we were not able to go out of the hotel to get some grub or even check out Pub Street. We just cleaned up and went straight to bed.

After checking out and buying souvenirs and other stuff at the Old Market, we decided to get a quick grub somewhere in Pub Street and while there check out some stores along it as well. Good thing our tuktuk driver Sarath had to pick up guests so he dropped us first before he proceeded to the airport and he'll return for us afterwards so we can return to the hotel, freshen up and go to the airport for our flight to Bangkok later that night.

Pub Street in downtown Siem Reap is main hub of activities in this area of Cambodia. This street is lined with bars, restaurants, cafes, pubs, places to stay at and stores. It is alive both night and day and is a perfect place for travelers who want to relax after a day of exploring he temples at the Angkor complex. It is also home of the hippest street parties at night for alcoholic beverages and food here comes at reasonable prices.

Earlier that morning we already passed by Pub Street and one establishment caught our eyes: Temple Club, mainly because of how inviting the place looks and it is always full of people. Only later on that I discovered that Temple is one of the oldest and biggest establishments in Siem Reap.

My friends and I chose a patio table or literally by the sidewalk. It was humid that day but the inside seating area was already full and it's fun to go people watching to pass time. One of the staff assisted us and we also asked for their Wi-Fi access (which had a good connection by the way).

After deciding what to order, I roamed around Temple's ground floor and took some photos. Its theme is more on the Western vintage-quirky type and not at all native Cambodian. But I learned that they offer free Apsara Performances here at night that we didn’t have the chance to watch since we were leaving that night.

We ordered their Hawaiian Pizza, fresh orange juices and coffee. Hawaiian Pizza which was cooked in a brick oven and contains pineapple, bell pepper, ham, tomato sauce and Mozzarella cheese. The crust was thin and it had a lot of cheese which I like. The juices were good but my friend said the coffee didn’t have much flavor to it. Everything was ok and price points were acceptable for a place in a tourist flocked area.

I haven't got the chance to party or at least experience the nightlife while traveling to another country (which I always plan to do but has never happen yet, bummer) as mostly we are already tired after the day's activity or time won't permit it. It seems to me that partying here at Temple Bar would be fun based on the articles I've read and other stuff I have seen online. Hopefully next time I go back to Siem Reap, the schedule and itinerary would be more relax and the ones I am with is also up to party.

TEMPLE CLUB
Pub Street , Svay Dang Koum
Siem Reap, Cambodia
Contact No: +855 90 99 99 55
Email : ompubstreet@templegroup.asia
Facebook: facebook.com/TempleClubPubStreet
Instagram: instagram.com/temple.168