The First Time I Experienced Amsterdam’s Red Light District

‘Most visitors to Amsterdam will wander into the red-light district out of sheer curiosity. The narrow streets are mostly safe day and night — just don’t try to take pictures of the women working in the windows.’ David Hews

I have been to Amsterdam many times and I can assure you it remains one of my favourite European cities, enchanting, almost magical. I love the cheese and wine canal tours that pass through charming Dutch apartments, herring that is sold in many street corners, and the Rembrant house, now a museum.

The first time I travelled to Amsterdam (1976), my cabin crew colleagues from Philippine Airlines took me to the city’s famous or infamous (depending on which side of the moral compass you belong too) Red Light District. I read about this district many times so it became an even more exciting adventure for me.

So there we were, walking by most of the apartments with floor to ceiling glass windows with red lights and one sex worker per window. They came in all shapes, sizes, colours and genders. Each one standing like a fashion model, trying to seduce in their very best ways curious passers-by and potential clients.

After several views of the diversity on display, we stood in front of a particularly amazing female sex worker — she was pitch black, huge and looked more like a sumo wrestler than a sex worker.

After about a minute of our collective curiosity, she angrily barged out of her display window cursing us with all her might and demanding we all

“fuck-off my window frontage”

On hindsight, I wish I could have captured on video or photos the moment we all scampered like scared rats in all directions!

Fast forward to 2017.

The district, which by the way is Amsterdam’s oldest, looks pretty much the same. A new generation of sex workers ply the oldest trade in the world in this city where prostitutes in their window brothels are legal and well regulated.