BPE - Amsterdam

Aug 23...
After packing our tent, we had to wait for a long time before someone gave us a lift... He was a really nice Holland guy, heading to work, but he had some time left, so he actually tried to take us to see some windmills, but he got lost so he end up taking us to a river to look around... we had a really nice chat with him, and then he dropped us close to Rotterdam, where a man who worked in Amsterdam airport picked us up, and took us to the airport from where we could take the train to the center of the city. And from there we went to the camping site by tram, pitched our tent and went back to visit the city...




Amsterdam was a place I really wanted to know, I mean it is the capital of Holland, famous for its landscapes, windmills, flowers, etc... but more than that it is so "open-minded" to say it someway... it's the only country were marihuana is legal, and it is famous for its red light district. Neither of these two things are something I actually agree with, I havent really think about it anyway, but somehow I wanted to actually see it... just like the guy who gave us a lift told us, it is something you have to see to think by yourself about these things.

One of the things I really wondered after seeing all the "Coffee shops" around Amsterdam, was about where did the marijuana they sell comes from... I mean coming from a country that is "famous" for producing cocaine and other drugs, I actually had no idea of the difference between marijuana, cannabis, coca, cocaine, amapola, etc... and with my sister we kind of wondered wether the pot that is "legally" consumed in Amsterdam (mostly by tourists btw) is "illegally" imported from other countries... I am still wondering about that...

And then we kind of try to think of wether legalizing drugs in Colombia will be good or bad for the country... and wether it is actually possible (having the USA on top of us...) but didnt got a conclusion about that, its just too complicated... but for now, I still think that all the people who use drugs and think of Colombia as the drug paradise should first stop to think of the real consequences drug traffic has in Colombia's society, in the people who live in the countryside, that are either forced to join the guerrilla or paramilitaries, forced to leave their home and run-away to the cities, or otherwise killed... of all the poor people that end up working as "mulas" trying to take drugs into America and Europe, and well, all the problems that Colombia is facing because there is people willing to pay for the drugs, and support a business that gives money to the guerrilla and the paramilitaries to continue doing what they do, and all the war we have in Colombia.

Famours for its flowers... and its leaves??? well, as long as they grow it themselves I guess I have no problem with that...

After walking around the city, we were thinking of going back to the campsite... we kind of wanted to see the "Red Light District", but we didnt know where it was, and we didnt want to see it that much... but then on our way back, we first saw some bars, with "dancing-girls" signs, and then some roads ahead we started seeing the Neon-lighted windows... Seeing women behind a glass trying to "sell" themselves was completely weird... and I actually wondered wether people would actually go there to get their "services" (or as Sue calls it, "window shopping" :p), but then as my sis told me, I guess they dont really care about people looking at them. So, the only thing I have to say is it is probably much better this way thant the usual dark, dangerous, illegal way of doing it in other countries, as long as they are doing it willingly, but still not something I can really understand, or think as normal... (I was just reading, and it seems that even in Amsterdam, it is not really controlled, and there is a lot of human trafficking as well... :s)

sorry, I've got no pics of the neon girls... I was kind of scared of wether I could actually take pics or no...