What Happens in Amsterdam stays in Amsterdam

“What happens in Amsterdam stays in Amsterdam”proclaimed a t-shirt in one of the many souvenir shops in the city known for its liberal attitude as we walked through the streets of it. The city is truly beautiful with canals and buildings and an amazing culture.Yes,an amazing culture.A culture that you will definitely not find in any other city in the world.Where in the world would you find the two most illegal things in the world(1.Prostitution 2.Selling weeds), considered to be the most legal things one can do.

Baba Coffee shop,the name itself had something in it that attracted us at the first time.Though there were like a million coffee shops in Amsterdam we still felt an urge to go there.Here we were in the most amazing city in Europe walking through the narrow,cramped weed smelling streets full of coffee shops and hash brownies.And the saying”A lot can happen over coffee” replaced by”A lot can happen in the name of coffee”comes true in this place.

So we entered the Baba coffee shop and surprisingly there were idols of Ganesh,Shiv and other Indian gods on the corners and to our greatest surprise there were no Indians in the Shop.So everything in this shop was going on with the permission of Gods .I guess even the Gods would have loved to smoke weeds in Amsterdam.

The shop was pretty big.It had a coffee counter near the entrance and just next to the coffee counter was the tiniest counter that sold weeds.We quickly scanned through the rate list.There were weeds ranging from 20 euros a joint to 5.5 euros a joint.”Cheapest one ?”I asked the other two.”Cheapest one”the others seconded.The guy at the weed joint,let’s call him Mr. X in the rest of the story looked at us and asked”First timers?””Yes”we nodded.”Give us the 5.5 euros per joint weed”I said.Mr.X”That joint is not good for the first timers.It is pretty strong.Straight from Afghanistan.”The three of us looked at each other and smiled.Yes the word Afghanistan had definitely impressed us.”A lot of guys smoke that and then they are found lying on the floor of the shop .For you guys some XX joint is good.”He pointed at one of the weed in the long list of many weeds.We looked at the cost,6.50 euros a joint.Not bad.”So should we order one joint a person”I asked at which Atit laughed.”Are you crazy!One joint is enough to make all the three of us high”He was more experienced amongst us as he had smoked weed earlier and we relied on him heavily.Ok done!one joint for 6.50 euros.”6.50 euros divided by 3 equals 2.16 euros close to 150 INR”my mind quickly calculated”is enough to get one high”When you are in a different country you get a habit of converting everything into your home currency and comparing it with the prices back home.We paid the guy 6.50 euros at which he took a printout of the bill.Yes,selling weed was legal here and it all happens legally.He took out a container which had all the stuff ,took out a paper rolled the weed and gave it to us.”Have a nice time”Mr.X said as we left the counter.”One more question.Can we sit in the coffee shop and smoke.”I asked him.”Unless you order something from the coffee shop.”We stared at the coffee menu.Cappucino for 1.5 euros and hot chocolate for 2 euros.Truly an inexpensive place.”3 cappucionos”I ordered as a hot girl quickly brought 3 cappuccinos for us.So we took our coffee and went to sit on the couch and smoke the first weed of our life just below the idol of Lord Ganesha.And yes we had the blessings from him.

Soon the joint was lit and was being passed all over sequentially.I didn’t have the experience of smoking weeds before but Atit had quite a bit of experience and Bono too was new in the business.

The next few minutes I started feeling drowsy and my senses seemed to stop working.Well after that I have few hazy memories which I tried to recall after I was back to normal.The next few hours turned out to be the most amazing hours of my life.I could feel the weightlessness of my head as if I was flying with the weight of my brain shifting from one side to the other.I could no longer hear Atit and Bono talking and had to try really hard to interpret words coming out of their mouth.”Dude I can’t hear anything”I said as I freaked out on thinking of deafness as one of the side effects of the weed.I had experienced being high for the first time in my life and it was really amazing.”Where is my bag?It has all my travel documents including my passport and my Travel Pass.”I said.”It is right beside you,you ”Bono said.”Ohh yeah!I am just scared I don’t lose my bag because it has my passport and my travel pass.”I looked at Atit and he was staring at nowhere.”Dude ,are you high?”.”Only hell no”was Atit’s reply.”Dude I am scared to lose my bag because..””It has your passport and your travel pass”Bono said.”Exactly”was my reply.”Don’t worry.I’ll take care of it from now on.”Bono said.

Just then we saw a guy who was so high that he could barely walk.The coffee place gave him a stick and helped him walk outside the shop after which they took the stick.Once the customer is out of the shop,it is no longer their responsibility.

"Is my bag ok?Because it has my passport and my travel documents"I said."Let's get out of here".Bono said."Wait.I am still high"I said.Atit loved to show that he was not high although he was."Dude you are high"Bono said."I am not"Atit said."Ok,I will tell a sentence.If we remember the sentence tomorrow,we will know who were high and who were not."I said."Ok.done"Bono and Atit nodded."The sentence is-there is a hot girl at the bar counter"I don't know why I called it a bar because clearly it was a coffee joint and all you could get there was coffee and hash brownies.Anyways the only one who could not remember the sentence the next day was Atit.

"Dude,the place is getting crowded and I am sure they will throw us out if we don't leave early"Bono somewhat sounded pretty much sensible.I didn't understand how he had all his senses working."Ok.let’s order something.""But how will we get anything.We all are all so high.We will drop the coffee cup in between."Atit said."Besides I have a bag which I has my passport and my travel documents."I am pretty much sure they would have kicked me for saying it one more time but since everyone was high,the others were kind of enjoying it.

So we somehow ordered the super hot girl 3 hot chocolates and that distance from the coffee counter to the couch seemed like the longest walk for all of us.And yes,we were successful in bringing the cups to the couch without causing any damage.And that hot chocolate was how we killed time in the coffee shop.The hot chocolate was almost close to cold coffee when I had the last sip of it but we somehow managed to hang around for another 30 minutes in the coffee shop.

So finally we left the shop,I was still feeling drowsy but I felt the urge of inhaling some fresh air.I could hardly walk because of the aftereffect of the weed but somehow we managed to find the other hot spot of Amsterdam,the RLD.

The RLD of Amsterdam is one of the most popular and tourist approached spots and is perhaps the only of its kind in the world.Just walking through the streets full of windows lit in red light and scantily dressed girls trying to seduce each and everyone that passes by makes you feel that you are in a completely different world.At night the place looks really amazing.All you can see are lights,lights of different colours ranging from red to blue.The windows once covered with curtains become the highlights of the night.

I would rather not tell what happened in the RLD or let’s just pretend, I was pretty much out of my mind and so I couldn’t recall what happened there. So skipping this part,we straightway jump 3 hours ahead when we gained a little bit of consciousness and walked to the train station.

Now, our train was scheduled to leave Amsterdam at 6 in the morning but we did not have a place to stay for the rest of the night. We had decided that we would stay in the train station for the night and then leave Amsterdam from there. Another amazing fact of Amsterdam Centraal Station(as they call it in Dutch) is that there is no waiting lounge in the entire station, pretty much unlikely as compared to other European train stations. So we found a bench to sit on in the train station, put our heads down and soon fell asleep.

“Passports please” said a tall guy in the POLITE uniform and whose voice brought us back to reality. At first we couldn’t understand but later we realized that since we had a unique South Asian looks we could be easily suspected as terrorists. We calmly took out our passports and showed it to the officer. He scanned through our visa with his sharp eyes and then said”You cannot stay in the station after 12.The station closes at 12 and reopens at 5.”This was a piece of shock to all of us. We had no place to go for the night and the temperature outside was way below freezing point.5 hours in the freezer of a refrigerator and we would die of the cold.We hurriedly took our bags and went outside thinking of the next POA.

“Let’s look for some cheap hotels”suggested Bono at which we both were reluctant as our pockets were already tight and we had to visit 3 more cities. Still we walked through the streets looking for some hostel or some hotel. What looked like a happening street once now looked precarious. There was no one on the street except some occasional drunk people. We saw a hotel and went upstairs to ask for a room.”90 euros each”and we did not stop there for a minute.

“Look, this ain’t going to help. We must find some covered place to sit” I said,my hands already frozen. Luckily we saw a McDonald’s open.”Let’s go there and sit”I said.”But for how long.They are definitely going to throw us out after some time.”Bono had a point.”Let’s see”.I said as I took out my hands out of my jacket pocket to see the time.12:20 AM, still four and a half hours to go.

So we went to the restaurant and saw the opening hours.It said it was open till 3 AM which gave us a small ray of hope.3 hours shelter and then just 2 more hours after that. There were very few people in the Café.We ordered cokes and fries and decided that we will have a sip in 15 mins so that we can stay in the café longer.

Now it is difficult not to sip your coke when it is right infront of you.The first round finished in 30 minutes, though we tried very hard.Still 2 more hours.So we ordered another round of coke and then another and then another.Throughout the stay we were hoping that we do not see crowd in the café and the manager doesen’t kick us out.After several rounds of coke we somehow were able to kill time without being kicked out of the café. The manager looked least bothered about us sitting in the place for more than 2 hours.At 2:45 we were told that the café would close in 15 minutes. So we took our bags and left the café right at 3 AM.

2 more hours and we will be on our way to Paris.But that was the challenge.2 hours in the frost with nowhere to hide and a temperature that could freeze the blood.”Let’s walk to the train station and see if there is a place to hide somewhere.”Atit suggested to which all of us agreed.We walked to the train station.

2:15 AM.We were at the train station and the doors were locked with tight security on the gates.Somehow the next 2 hours will be critical and if we are able to get through this we can make it to Paris alive.To me it seemed like a Hindi movie where the doctors ask the relatives of the patients to pray to God so that the patient gets through the next few hours after which he is safe.

Now,I don’t remember how exactly we killed time but we somehow managed to get through the next few hours without dying. We walked and walked, sometimes sat down on steps or wherever we got a place and were not kicked out. When such situations occur the discussions and even conversations cease.

4:45 AM.For me it was a huge sigh of relief as the security started preparing for the opening of the station.15 minutes and we shall make it.For me it was no better than foreplay which lasted for the same duration.The best was still to come.

5:00 AM:The security finally allowed us to get into the train station and finally we had made it. A memorable yet scary night had finally come to an end and far at the horizon we could see light.

5:30 AM: Announcements were made that train to Brussels was on time and would be arriving at the designated Platform.

6:00 AM:The train arrived and we boarded it and quickly scanned for place to sit.I wished that the windows in the European trains were not sealed so that I could throw a handkerchief and secure a seat for myself.Luckily the train wasn’t crowded and we got ample seats to sit and even sleep. Very soon the train would run across the length of Belgium and the three of us would be in the most romantic city on the planet. We watched out of the window as light from the sun hit our eyes and the train slowly gathered pace out of the most amazing city in the world.