Dazed in Amsterdam…

Michel's apartment is neatly sandwiched between a coffee shop and a Thai restaurant...

The weather in Holland is rather fickle… One minute the sun was shining brightly, the next it was pouring with rain… Michel and I sat poring over maps and working out some routes for me to follow, he very kindly provided me with the maps he had used on his own trip, and also downloaded Garmin North America and The World Map onto my laptop…

During our discussions, it dawned on us that there was no way I would be able to ride into Central Asia at this time of year…!!

Many of the roads Michel had ridden would be closing soon, due to the weather in the region north of the Himalayas… They would only re-open in April 2011…!!

He also remembered that it had taken him almost three months to get his visas sorted out for Turkmenistan… Apparently they are a little suspicious of foreigners in those parts…!!

I struggled to accept the disappointment of this bit of information… It seemed that the best time to attempt the ride through the ‘Stans was between April and July… Before and after that would be almost impossible due to snowfall and inclement weather… A major change of plan was required…!! I might still be able to ride in Kazakhstan, but that would mean a long detour through Southern Russia and back again… Not ideal…!!

I sent an email to my mate Ken in Australia, who I had met in Wadi Halfa, and enquired about his ride through Iran and into Turkey… He confirmed that if I managed to make the crossing in November, I would probably miss the ice and snow on the mountains that make up the border between these two countries… At the time he made the crossing, they had “skated” their bikes down the slippery, ice-covered road into Turkey, never falling, but giving their sphincter muscles plenty of exercise in the process…

This Round the World lark was getting a bit complicated…!!

The view from the dining table... The canal in the foreground is literally a few steps from the front door...!!

Michel Jongens, adventurer, biker, and all round good mate...!!

Michel suggested that we take a walk along the canals to find a place to have lunch and a coffee or three, and find a spot to watch the Parade from…

The constant rain had put a damper on proceedings, and dodging umbrellas, we made our way through the narrow alleyways that pass for streets in the area, and took in a few of the sights of Amsterdam as we did so…

We visited the nearby convent, where only nuns and woman are allowed to live today, and also looked in on the church that forms part of the walled enclosure. Many of the museums were closed for renovations, so seeing Rembrandt’s “The Night Watchman” and other great works of art was out of the question…

A visit to Amsterdam is incomplete without a stop to see where they brew Hollands finest...!!

Just when you get used to dodging cyclists, cars and scooters, along comes a tram to complicate matters further...!!

This massive electronic billboard left visitors in no doubt that the Gay Pride Parade was the happening event in Amsterdam...

One of the Party Boats, having stopped to replenish "supplies", prepares to cast off and join the parade...

All around us, preparation for the parade were getting under way… Despite the weather, thousands of people thronged the streets, and the ladies in their little cubicles were kept very busy, judging by the amount of curtains that had been drawn closed for privacy, and then would re-open to allow sheepish looking men to exit, before another took their place…!!

The sex trade here is still booming, and in the area through which we walked, I quickly lost count of the shops selling items that you would not see on the shelves of Woolworths…!!

The canals were crowded with people waiting for the barges that would carry groups of the Gay Fraternity down their lengths on a pre-ordained route… Even the Major of Amsterdam was there…!! From a vantage point above one of the bridges, we watched as a few of the barges made their way down the canal, music blaring from the sound systems installed on each one of them…

A massive crowd lined the banks of the canals to watch the barges float by... Even the Jewish chapter of the Gay Brotherhood was there...!!

The folk on this boat were having a ball...

The miserable weather did not deter this lot from letting it all hang out...

The crowd clapped and sang along to songs that had been adopted by the Gay Community around the world: YMCA by the Village People, Simply the Best by Tina Turner, and a few Cher songs boomed out over the water… And then of course there was all that Techno crap that seems to get everybody into a trance…!!

Some of you may be able to spot the men in this picture... You will have to look very closely...!!

This girl was appropriately dressed for the occasion... At least I think it was a girl...!!

Or perhaps it was the freely available drugs that had them buzzing… People smoked dope openly, and I saw a few preparing the paraphernalia that involved a lot more than puffing on a joint… Apparently Amsterdam is getting “cleaned up”… The days of seeing junkies on every street corner are almost gone, the Red Light District may also disappear from the area in the near future, as the City Fathers try to improve the image of the area…

Old and neglected  buildings, that once served as flop-houses for the homeless and the drug-dependent are being renovated into smart apartments. On almost every street, building operations are in progress, and this old and historic part of Amsterdam will one day once again become the pride of the city…

The rain continued to fall, and we decided that we had experienced enough gaiety for the day and went back to Michel’s apartment to continue our discussions regarding weather patterns, the locals custom’s of Eastern Europe, and our biking experiences… On the way we stopped off to look at a few more of Amsterdam’s famous landmarks… This place is not all about sex, you know…!!

There is some amazing architecture to be seen as well. This ship-like structure is the Science and Technology College...

...and this beautiful arched bridge over one of the canals...

View down the canal from the front of Michel's apartment...

The oldest pub in Amsterdam dates back to 1695... One must assume that they have long ago stopped counting the number of beers they have served here...

Only in Amsterdam...

After another round of coffee and a sandwich, we pored over the details of Michel’s trip, and he showed me the book he had printed as a memory of his journey…

Exiting one of Amsterdam's public conveniences... When you gotta go, you gotta go...!!

The more we got to know each other, the more we realized how much we had in common… It was uncanny to say the least…!!

We were born in the same year, and our birthdays are just nine days apart; we have both had the identical eye operation to improve our eyesight; we are both divorced with two children, Michel’s are barely a year older than Roxanne and Robyn, we ride the same model of motorcycle, and have the identical BMW Rally-Pro kit; and of course, we both enjoy the challenge of long distance riding…

We even found time to visit the flower market, where Michel bought roses for Kate, who had celebrated her birthday the day before...

We met up with Michael (a South African musician) and his wife Romy, who had been in the city for over a year, and had rented Michel’s apartment while he was on his ride to Katmandu… After dinner at a large Italian Restaurant near the waterfront, we went back to the apartment to enjoy a few nightcaps… Our conversation included their years spent in the USA and South Africa, and I listened to their description of a holiday they had spent in the Drakensberg Mountains… Even their talk of the crime they had experienced in Randburg had me longing for home…!!

Before Michel left the next day, we walked to his garage to check on the bike… I was unable to lift it onto its centre stand to check the oil level properly, and Michel’s talk of using quite a bit of oil on his 16000 km trip, had me wondering if the Big Fella wasn’t quietly working through his stock as well…!! The oil level was lower than I was used to, but still well within the recommended levels, so I left things as they were, resolving to add a small top-up when I reached Sweden, just to be sure…

Later that afternoon, we said our goodbyes and the last I saw of Michel was his tall figure weaving in and out of the crowds, dragging his small suitcase up the road towards the station where he would take a train to The Hague… Or at least I thought that was the last I had seen of him…!!

I sat thinking again about all the people who had invited me into their homes and had left me with a key and the run of the place while they went off to work or keep appointments they had made… I may be wrong, but this sort of thing just doesn’t happen back in South Africa, and I am continually amazed by the trust and faith that complete strangers have placed in me… It’s a wonderful feeling…!! Perhaps if I had been covered in tattoos and had piercings hanging out of and off every orifice in my body, things would have been a little different…!!

Romy, Michael, Michel and I enjoyed a great meal on the waterfront...

I was shaken from my reverie by an urgent knock at the door, and on opening it, was confronted by the beaming face of Michael…!! He and Romy had cycled over to invite me to dinner with a South African mate of theirs who was celebrating his birthday…

I eyed the bicycle with some concern, wondering if I was meant to sit on the crossbar or the handlebars, and was much relieved when Michael advised that the restaurant they had chosen to meet Wessel at was just around the corner, and we would be walking there… I was quietly relieved at this bit of news, as I had visions of ending up in the dirty green waters of a canal… It had been a while since I last rode a bicycle, and did not for a moment believe the old adage that “you never forget how to ride a bicycle”… I had seen the speed with which the Dutch rode their cycles down the narrow roads, ringing their bells to alert all and sundry that they were coming up behind them at a healthy clip…

Wessel arrived on his own bicycle, looking a bit like an absent-minded professor… When he explained that he was a music composer, I nodded my head and thought that my initial take on him had not been far off the mark…!! We enjoyed a great meal with our bottle of red wine…or should that be a great bottle of wine with our meal…? Either way, both went down very well…!!

Afterward dinner, we parted company, and despite both Romy and Michael explaining the route I should follow to get back to Michel’s apartment, I got hopelessly lost and spent the better part of an hour trying to find my way back home…!! Getting directions proved to be a bit of a problem… How do you keep a straight face while asking a complete stranger where the middle of the Red Light District is…?

Well, I wasn’t about to find out, so just walked my backside off until by chance I stumbled across a sex-shop (as one does in this part of the world…!!) which I recognized to be in the same street as Michel’s apartment… I hurried along, trying not to make eye-contact with the girls beckoning me from inside their little cubicles (and failing from time to time…!!) It took me a few minutes to discover that I had walked about 200 metres the wrong way down the road before realizing that Michel’s place was in the opposite direction…!! It was those girls, I tell you…!! All very distracting…!!

Seems like a fun place... One where the Gypsy Biker might fit in perfectly...!!

I spent the next day writing up a few posts and changing my original route to Sweden to incorporate the massive Afsluitdijk, or Breezanddijk as it is sometimes called, which holds back the North Sea and prevents half of the Netherlands from turning into an aquarium… Michel had advised that this was a landmark well worth seeing, and after reading a little about the history of it, I agreed… Around midday, I received a call from the man himself…

“Are you busy later this afternoon…?” Michel enquired…

“Well actually I have half a dozen meetings scheduled and then those three hookers will be arriving soon after…!”

“I am driving back to Amsterdam to collect you, and then bring you out to The Hague to have dinner with my girlfriend and I at a restaurant on the seafront…!!” he advised…

Kate and Michel at their favourite Italian Restaurant in The Hague...

The sun was shining brightly as we drove southwest out of Amsterdam, covering the 60 odd kilometres in a little under an hour…

I appreciated the time and effort Michel had gone to make my stay in Holland a very comfortable one, and going out of his way to come and collect me and bring me out to The Hague (the administrative capital of the Netherlands) was a kindness I will not forget…

I met Kate, his Polish girlfriend who worked for Shell, the Dutch petrol giant, and we enjoyed a wonderful dinner overlooking the flat North Sea, where people jogged along the paths just above the beach…

After dinner, they showed me some of the sights, including the beautiful Parliament Buildings and the Vredespaleis (Peace Palace) where the World Peace Flame burns day and night inside a granite and glass memorial…

They also pointed out the Palace where Queen Beatrix of Holland lives… We would have popped in for tea, but I had a train to catch back to Amsterdam…

The Dutch Houses of Parliament, a beautiful building in an amazing setting...

Toe to toe in The Hague...

The Peace Flame burns brightly ouitside the Vredespaleis...

The train took the best part of an hour to get me to Amsterdam, and I marched confidently out into the darkened streets believing that I could easily find my way back home… Er…not quite…!! If you think the streets of Amsterdam are confusing during the day, try walking around at night !! Just as visions of having to sleep in some darkened doorway began flooding through my mind, I heard sounds of drunken revelry coming from the street adjacent to the one I was walking down, and after zig-zagging down a dodgy alleyway, stepping over fallen bicycles and a couple who seemed to be engaged in some horizontal entertainment, I came out onto the brightly lit street where the Gay Pride Party was still in full swing…

“It’s Monday night for goodness sake !!” I thought to myself, “Don’t these people ever stop ??”… Apparently not…!! Behind the closed door of the apartment, I could still hear the music blasting from a barge tied up a few hundred metres down the canal…!!

I arrived at the Central Station after dark, and then tried to find my way home...

I had a VERY long ride planned for the next day, and when I looked at my watch, I realized that the ride was due to begin in just six hours…!! This meant that I had only about four and a half hours of sleep available to me…

Not good…!!

©GBWT 2010