I started my trip to Amsterdam in Bruges, Belgium. I left the hostel in Bruges early in the morning knowing I had a really long day of travel. I first had to back track to Ghent by train, it was a short trip and Belgium has these really cool double decker trains. I had taken the same train to Bruges the day before so I knew exactly where I needed to go. I walked to the train station and got to Gent-Sint-Pieters without issue.
In Bruges I met yet another woman who believed that I was much younger than I was. A few months before a man canvassing in support for Brexit believed that I was a full 10 years younger than I was. Getting really annoyed by this I had for some reason formed a plan that by shaving off all my hair I would look much older. I still had about 5 hours before my bus to Amsterdam so I got my phone out and tried to find a barbers, the problem with this plan was that it was a Sunday. I managed to find a barbers open on Sunday, and it was on my way to the bus station. So I started the walk, it was in a residential area outside the main city locations.
I walked into the barbers and it looked "sketchy", some children were in the shop playing, maybe family of the owners. I sat down lying my backpack on the floor and waited for a few people before me. When my turn came I found the Barber did not speak English, I believe he was from Iraq. So I made a gesture to just shave it all off, which is pretty easy for anyone to understand. He looked very nervous and kept trying to confirm that I wanted it all shaved off, he obviously did not want to make that mistake. When he finally was sure about my instructions, he started laughing at me and became very happy and relaxed.
He talked in what English he could, asked me where I was from and what I was doing in Ghent. I answered as best as I could, I have became quite good at communicating to people with limited or no English skills, although I have yet to learn another language. He very quickly shaved my hair, and it felt amazing brushing my hand over it, not fully shaved, but as close as you can get. I paid up, picked my backpack up again and found a place to get coffee.
I now had 4 hours to kill while I waited for my bus, but I had already been to Ghent and I was not in the mood to do even more walking. So I hooked up to the WiFi, got some food and started reading my Kindle. Probably the quietest most relaxing day I had since my time in Paris over a week ago.
It came time to start walking to the bus, I got to the bus stop and I believe it was near a hotel. The station was called Akkerhage. A few people were standing around, alot of these Flix bus stations did not have signs, you just walked to the street and hoped you would find people waiting.
After a while a woman standing nearby started a conversation with me, she was Dutch and lived in Amsterdam. I think she was going back home after visiting family. Within 2 minutes of talking to me she asked if she could feel my hair because it was so short. If Dutch women at bus stations want to touch my hair, so be it I thought. The bus turned up but it was delayed. The driver informed us that an illegal migrant of some sorts had hid inside the cargo hold of the bus, probably thinking the bus was going to the UK. Unfortunately he was not coming out despite everyone knowing he was there, so the police were called. It took an hour before this man was out of the cargo hold and the bus could get going.
Me and this Dutch women were talking the whole bus journey. I found her captivating, she was about 23 years old, and she seemed very experienced in life. She dressed like a 1980s skin head, lots of denim with rips. We sat on the bus together and flirted for hours, our legs touching, using any excuse to touch each other. It was one of the best bus rides I have ever had. One of those moments that I knew I would look back on. We talked non stop for hours, even when the rest of the bus was silent. We stopped off in Rotterdam to pick up more passengers, I could not see much of the city because it was very dark. But just from the window of the bus I could tell the city looked very futuristic.
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My Backpacking Memoirs
Non-FictionIn 2017 I embarked on a three month backpacking trip around Europe. Motivated by the many accounts of travel from within religion, I went to learn. But what I experienced was not what I was expecting. This was my first time leaving the UK since I wa...
