Inside Amsterdam’s Red Light District

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I always said I would never go to Amsterdam because well…I don’t do drugs, I don’t have sex with prostitutes and I’m scared to visit anything related to the holocaust (Anna Frank’s house). So testing my character and going into the city filled with prostitutes and drugs was something I never thought I’d do. I have always been against both EXTREMELY. But over the summer my brother had visited the city and said it was absolutely beautiful and a must see, so I took his word for it and thought I’d give it a try.

I’m gonna start off by saying that this post may offend some, so if you are easily offended please don’t read forward.

From the moment I stepped into the red light district, I knew I would have problems writing about this place because there is no way to sugar coat this part of the world. Which of course, happens to be the most popular area in all of Amsterdam.



 

I’m very glad that I booked an optional tour to Amsterdam with Contiki because I’m not quite sure how things would have ended up, if I went to the red light district alone.

If you don’t want to go at it alone, go on the: Amsterdam Red Light District Walking Tour CLICK HERE – Only $27!

If you do want a private 2-hour tour in the Red Light District, check out Private Amsterdam Red Light District Walking Tour – Only $20!

(Optional tour means a tour that provides you accommodation, transportation, a tour guide with very little to none activities included. During which most of the day and night you are free to do whatever you want, with a few meet ups. The good thing is you’re surrounded with a group of people your age and you can tag along with people on their adventure or go exploring alone)

My group was given the option to attend a “Sex Show”! What is a sex show you ask? Exactly how it sounds, people having sex on stage in front of you! Imagine my surprise to find out that things like that actually exist and you can actually pay for them. Because let’s face it, it’s pretty outrageous.

I’m an explorer and an open minded person. As long as something won’t physically harm me, I’m all for it. Only thing is, I had no idea what I was actually signing up for!

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2 Facts About Me:
1. I can totally be the campaign girl for an anti-drug commercial because I absolutely HATE drugs and always have! I think drugs are completely disgusting and no explanation in the world, will make me try to understand it or why people are dumb enough to do it.

2. For years now I’ve been donating money to a non-profit organization called LOVE 146, which helps save women from human trafficking. So my feelings for all the prostitution that goes on in the red light district are very strong. I have researched this subject for years now and it’s absolutely heart shattering.

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But let’s continue shall we…

From the moment we walked into the red light district to attend our “sex show”, I already felt an enormous amount of dark and bad energy.
We were told from the moment we got there, that currently there is a cocaine warning. There were dealers all throughout the city and especially in the red light district, selling white heroin as cocaine and tourist have been getting hospitalized and some have even died. There was signs posted all over the city about this, including flashing billboards. Hearing that alone already freaked me out about this city and I asked myself why I ever agreed to do this in the first place.

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I always imagined the red light district as some sort of Moulin Rouge, a few random windows, maybe like 5-7 shops and that’s it. I completely thought it was overrated and I was completely wrong…it was more like strawberry fields forever.

The red light district was packed with both women and men, but of course the majority were men. It was also filled with coffee shops and “munchies bars”. As we made our way through the crowds to see the show, we went through many streets field with the famous red light windows (technically doors). Some of the girls weren’t attractive at all, and others looked like they stepped foot off the runway and into a red window. Some of these girls were sooo beyond beautiful, that you can’t understand how on earth they ended up there.

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None of them were happy, none of them smiled. They had a look in their eyes, as though they had survived a war. They seemed so tough, because they had to be. It was almost very hard to watch and completely heart shattering.

We arrived at the show! We walked into, what seemed to be an old small theater. The admission ticket came with 2 drinks because really, how can you watch random people having sex on stage in front of you sober… kind of odd.

The moment we walked through the curtains there was a couple already in the middle of getting it on, on stage. I was almost shocked at how randomly that was happening, as people are still getting seated.

The show lasted an hour, which I can totally say was a bit long. There were a few different couples having sex on stage from different ethical backgrounds, some solo acts and of course a few audience participation.

I won’t ruin the whole surprise, in case you want to see it one day, but I will tell a few spoilers! One of the acts does include 3 audience members eating a banana out of a girl’s vagina! There is also an act where a girl smokes a cigar out of her vagina! And a man break dancing while inside his wife! Sorry lol, there is just no other way of saying it!

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During the show, you’re kinda sitting there wondering to yourself, “Did I just really pay to watch this? This is nuts!”
Now while seeing a sex show might sound sexy and hot, to be honest it’s far from it. This of course wasn’t just my opinion, but also the opinion of all my new guy friends and girl friends. It seems like none of the performers were enjoying themselves, no one was ever smiling or really seemed into it. In fact, it all seemed pretty staged and choreographed, if you can imagine sex being that.
It was more awkward than sexy and I think it’s because it seemed like none of the performers were enjoying themselves.
Overall though, it was a crazy, silly and a funny experience, that I’m still not sure what to make of it, to be honest.

After the show was over, my 2 new friends and I checked out the prostitution museum, to get a better understanding of the red light district. The museum was located at an old brothel location, that was shut down after the murder of a working girl!!!
The museum really gives you a closer look of a day in the life of a prostitute. You get to see what it feels like to stand outside the famous red windows. See what their rooms look like, what their schedule is like, along with many other attractions.

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Walking the streets of the red light district at night are scary, alone or with others. It’s filled with drug dealers everywhere you go and with a bunch of creepy men that you aren’t sure if they will rob you or kidnap you. Even the guys on my tour kind of felt a bit uncomfortable. Everywhere you go smells like weed and as a woman who like I said, hates drugs and wants nothing to do with prostitution, it’s just not the place for me.

Nevertheless, Amsterdam is a beautiful city with such a unique beauty. Starting with the architecture and square top buildings, going through the beautiful canals and bike world. I feel like it gives off a New York/Venice vibe. I’m still almost shocked that things like the red light district actually exist in 2015, I think it’s horribly wrong and very sad. It’s also odd to me that a city with so much care for recycling and global warming, would also be the same city that prides on prostitution and drugs.

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(Me in the prostitution museum)

All in all I would definitely recommend Amsterdam as a city to go visit. I didn’t completely hate the red light district or Amsterdam. It was fascinating, as always to see how people on the other side of the world live. I got to see and do some pretty cool things, like check out the Heineken museum, I did an awesome canal dinner cruise, I enjoyed the Christmas markets, visited the countryside and saw how cheese and clogs are made and more. I just think you should consider the above before going there, depending on who you are and what you’re into.

Questions anyone?

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