Trip Report - 15th-22nd August

JayK · Post by **JayK** » Mon 28th Aug 2006 06:40 pm

Firstly I wanna thank everyone who's posted reviews and reports on here, I read this site along with channels.nl almost every day for a month prior to my trip, I wanted to be well prepare! I pretty much knew every shop I wanted to visit and the ACD map proved far more useful than any tourist guides!!

Our initial reason for the trip was to visit a music festival outside of Amsterdam called Lowlands (lowlands.nl) but whilst I the festival looked great, the location looked even better, so planned a few days before the festival in Amsterdam and a day or two after for some relaxation.

Everything was in place for the trip and I could not wait for Tuesday 15th, all I could think about was Amsterdam, then my life took a very unexpected turn. At work the week before I was doing my usual daily routine of wasting time on the internet and counting the seconds to 5 o clock when my whole body went stiff and I blacked out. I came round on the floor surrounded by paramedics and was rushed to hospital where I spent the night. I had had a seizure and later found out I was unconscious for around 10-15 minutes. Luckily I work at a doctors surgery and a GP in a neighbouring room had heard me fall. I had a couple of scans and went home with an appointment to meet with a neurologist on Monday 14th, the day before my flight. I went to the neurologist and was diagnosed with epilepsy. I went home in a state of shock but decided there was no way I was going to miss out on this trip so I got on the internet and got myself some specialist travel insurance and the next morning I was on my way to Schiphol...

Obviously I was incredibly excited but also very nervous, what would happen if I were to have another seizure? how would cannabis affect my medication? Only one way to find out....

The medication had hit me hard already, the doctor had warned that it would make me very drowsy amongst other side effects including aches and stiffness. I knew that I could not drink on my medication so I was really hoping that smoking would be ok…

Ok, enough of the build up, I felt I had to share that part with you guys as it kinda puts the trip into perspective…

As the train pulled up to Amsterdam Centraal my heart was racing, I could not wait to get off the train and into a coffeeshop, unfortunately we had a lot of baggage with us including a tent and sleeping bags. Instead of carrying them around all day or splashing out for a locker we decided to get a taxi down to our hotel just off Rembrandtplein. The room wasn’t ready so we dumped our bags and headed out.

We went for a wander and got some food from a Wok 2 Walk (absolutely delicious) as we figured smoking on an empty stomach would be a bad idea! Whilst in wok2walk 3 Spanish guys came in, all around 18-20, they were seriously high, like cartoon high! Red eyes, giggling the works. This was exactly the trigger we needed and we sprung into action. Little did we realise these would be that last moments of sobriety for a week. We found a tobacconist that sold papers, tips etc and stocked up including a grinder, we then got out the ACD map and headed for De Dampkring… which was ridiculously full so we walked on past and headed for Tweede Kamer. This is where our trip really started!

We had already decided that we would only buy weed in gm bags so we could try as many different strains as possible and build up a good variety to take to the festival with us. Our first smoke of the trip was Kali Mist Haze which both my girlfriend and I loved, especially as our tolerance was pretty low at the beginning of the week. The pure sativa high was awesome, a perfect daytime smoke (this became one of our favourite wake n bake strains). Tweede Kamer was fairly quiet and the guys behind the counter were incredibly friendly, offering advice on places to go, weeds to smoke and how to avoid tourist traps. The music was chilled and my girlfriend loved their coffees, I was quite happy with the chocomels!!

The order of the next couple of days is a complete blur however I know all the shops I went to and most of the weeds we smoked so I’ve listed them below, obviously all these reviews are subjective and my reviews are quite heavily biased as to how my body was feeling with the medication at the time I was there so take it all with a pinch of salt.

Abraxas –
Large and very busy while we were there, nice setup but couldn’t find a seat other than at the computers so sent a couple of emails while smoking their Applejack which really reminded me of weeds I’ve had back home. Neither the weed or the shop were anything special but I’d definitely go back to give it a fair go when it’s a bit quieter.

Dampkring –
Very disappointed with the Dampkring, while the décor is pretty cool the service was cold and the constant loop of Oceans 12 on the TVs was seriously annoying. The weed menu looked great (very similar to Tweede Kamer) but other than that I dunno why people rate this place so highly.

Barneys –
Both my girlfriend and I like getting u pearly so Barneys was great, we just hopped on the tram in the morning and flew straight up there. I was very wary of Barneys as its so tourist friendly but I really couldn’t fault this place! The food was overpriced but the omelettes were good and the weed we had was fantastic if a little expensive, the staff were very friendl to us although we saw them being a little short tempered with some of the more touristy punters, especially any that gave attitude when asked for ID, the English budtender was a really nice guy and more than happy to have a chat and recommend other shops. We tried Laughing Buddha, Lavender and Willie Nelson. The Lavender was a seriously heavy indica that knocked us out in the evenings and made our tent at the festival seem a lot more comfortable!

Siberie –
Great place, very chilled atmosphere and great smokes, we tried the Mango and Powerplant. Mango was a bit of a let down but still better than most, the powere plant was fantastic!

Pink Floyd – One of my favourite shops and part the perfect place for a cup of tea and checking the emails in the morning, I tried the Mothers Finest which was awesome. Very nice high with just enough stone to it, made us very giggly and set us up for a very interesting couple of hours shopping!

The Doors –
Nice place, good tunes but the staff pretty much ignored us, more interested in chatting with the locals, didn’t buy any weed here, but had a joint and enjoyed the atmosphere.

Rockerij (Next to Doors) –
My girlfriends favourite spot for a smoke with the low seats and Moroccan kinda theme, didn’t buy anything here, but smoked and relaxed for a couple for a couple of hours.

Old Amsterdam –
This was the nearest coffeeshop to our hostel so we popped in as a last stop on our first night. The girl behind the counter said we had to buy some weed before we even sat down which we didn’t like but we needed some anyway so we weren’t too fussed. Got some California Orange which was a little harsh on the throat but not too bad a high, wouldn’t go back here.

Bluebird –
Really liked bluebird but unfortunately I was feeling really rough here and my body was in a lot of pain from the medication, bought some Sage n sour diesel which was real nice, but didn’t stay very long unfortunately.

Stones –
Went here to watch the England football match, my girlfriend was smoking the Laughing Buddha from Barneys but my body was really aching so I nipped out to Greenhouse Effect to get a light indica to try to ease the pain, picked up some purple haze for around 4E which actually did the job really well and made me fee a lot better. Didn’t like the smoke that much but it had the desired effect on my body so I was chuffed!

Grey Area –
Nice little shop, couldn’t believe how busy it got!! Can’t remember what weed I got here but it had the words medicinal leaf in the name and certainly served this purpose for my aching body! The shops pretty cool and the owners are very friendly but couldn’t spend too long there.

De Kuil 420 Café –
One of my faves for sure, really felt like a local sat at the bar and smoking a joint, very welcoming and just the right atmosphere for us!

Dolphin –
Loved the decoration of the shop and the white dolphin was a nice smoke but the staff were unfriendly and really didn’t feel comfortable here. Definitely worth a look though.

Tweede Kamer – Loved this shop, so friendly, great music, great weed, nice and cosy, became our second home and would recommend it to everyone!!! Tried the Kali mist haze which was a great day time smoke as well as the bubblegum which was a nicely rounded indica.

My Top 3 Smokes
1)Willie Nelson – Barneys
2) Mothers Finest – Pink Floyd
3) Bubblegum – Tweede Kamer

Flicks Top 3 Smokes
1 - Laughing Buddha – Barneys
2 - Kali Mist Haze – Tweede Kamer
3 - White Dolphin - Dolphin

Out Favourite Shops -
Tweede Kamer
Pink Floyd
De Kuil
Siberie
Barneys
Rockerij

I know theres so many more places I need to visit and so many weeds to try and I plan to go back before xmas, especially as I now realise how much cannabis helps with my epilepsy, towards the end of the trip once I had got used to my medication I felt great and only when I got back to England did I realise how much it was helping! Having done a bit of research it seems a lot of people rely on cannabis to control their seizures, particularly indicas which is a shame because I love the high of a good sativa!

Apart from the smoking I absolutely fell in love with Amsterdam as a city and the people, I am seriously considering looking for work out there in the future as I work in the hotel/bar/restaurant trade and have a few connections, I’ve heard finding accommodation can be a nightmare though! I’m sure everyone comes back talking about moving there but I’m at a point in my life where I really could go for it, I have very little keeping me in England once I finish my uni course in April so who knows, either way I’ll be making a lot more visits….

Anyway, I feel I’ve been waffling, I'm not sure if this makes sense but I cant be arsed to read it through, I already know I’ve missed out loads but I’ll add to this when I can be arsed….

Jay

cannibistourist · Post by **cannibistourist** » Mon 28th Aug 2006 08:55 pm

great report im glad the cannabis has helped with your condition and that you had a brilliant time! less than a week for me now and my feet are definately itchy! hey how was the festival?

see_delight · Post by **see_delight** » Mon 28th Aug 2006 09:06 pm

Nice report. I gotta say, try Dolphins again at a different time of day next time. That shop turned out to be one of my favorites, the staff is actually really nice EXCEPT for one girl, this porn-star looking chick, she never smiled once while working except for when the manager came in and she sat on his lap. (I'm assuming this is the only reason she has the job). But other than her, everyone else is great.

Boner · Post by **Boner** » Mon 28th Aug 2006 09:08 pm

Excellent report thanks for sharing.

JayK · Post by **JayK** » Mon 28th Aug 2006 10:19 pm

The festival was incredible, so well organised and the line up was fantastic. We were allowed 5gm per person into the festival for the 3 days and you can smoke where ever you like.

Typical day at the festival went as follows :

Wake up around 10am by friendly guys delivering coffee and newsapers to the tents (no joke), walk to the showers and have a hot shower in a nice clean toilet block. Head over to the festival ground with a pocket full of pre rolls (5 mins walk), have a joint on the way and get some breakfast, normally eggs on toast for me and pancakes for my girlfriend.

Bands start around midday and go on until 11pm with loads of other stuff going on like Q&A sessions with musicians, book readings, films, comedy etc so hang out at the festival all day getting gently baked and eating awesome food, everything from pizza and chips to indonesian and thai, fresh fruit salads and smoothies, bbq...

when the bands stop the DJs start and go on til 4am, except one tent which is 24 hr, however we preferred to watch a movie on the big screens and smoke a couple more before bed. During the festival we watched Mission Impossible 3, X Men 3, for Vendetta and Brick. Loved Brick by the way, gonna have to watch it sober some time though!!!

The line up included :

Arctic Monkeys
Bloc Party
CKY
Dirty Pretty Things
DJ Shadow
The Dead 60s
Fun Lovin' Criminals
Gogol Bordello
Guillemots
José González
Hard-Fi / Rock / Britpop
HIM
Iggy & The Stooges
Infadels
Kids In Tracksuits
The Knife
The Kooks
Less Than Jake
Massive Attack
Muse
The Magic Numbers
Paolo Nutini
Pennywise
Placebo
Razorlight
The Raconteurs
Snow Patrol
The Streets
The Subs
Wolfmother
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Zero 7

Needless to say I'll be back next year, it was only £80 for 3 days including camping and I wouldnt miss it for the world, but next year I'll give myself more time in Amsterdam.

AzLaker · Post by **AzLaker** » Mon 28th Aug 2006 11:09 pm

Nice report JayK on Amsterdam. Festival sounds even better.

Thanks for the write up.
AzLaker

mazdog · Post by **mazdog** » Mon 28th Aug 2006 11:25 pm

first off sorry to hear about your health.....that would be rough to deal with at the best of times so a couple days before a trip to the 'dam must be a real bummer.

Sure sounds like you were able to make the most of it.

And the festival sound simply amazing.....thanks for your report and best of luck to you. You should talk to the member on here Twitch, i believe he also has epilepsy and is a heavy smoker.

Tall Guy · Post by **Tall Guy** » Tue 29th Aug 2006 08:45 am

Great report JK, good on you for not letting your problems get in the way of your trip. That festival sounds fantastic, but how do you make 5g last 3 days and nights??! Are people discreetly dealing there too?

JayK · Post by **JayK** » Tue 29th Aug 2006 10:52 am

Well, the festival allow 5gm per person but you can of course take more in. Around 1 in 50 people got searched and from what I've heard, even if they find more its just a slap on the wrist, they're more concerned about keeping hard drugs out.

I'm sure theoretically it wouldn't be hard to stash a little bit in the bottom of a rolled up sleeping bag.... theoretically

Tall Guy · Post by **Tall Guy** » Tue 29th Aug 2006 11:23 am

I managed to get 15 pre-rolled into the Leeds festival last week, so I'm sure it can't be too hard in Holland. Maybe see you there next year!

TG

JayK · Post by **JayK** » Fri 1st Sep 2006 12:14 pm

Life in England officially sucks. Having a really rough time with being passed around between consultants and having test done on me... now its just a waiting game, I get the results to my latest scans and a consultation with a neurosurgeon on September 14th... only one thing to do then I guess....

BACK TO THE DAM!!! I fly out on Wednesday....

Tall Guy · Post by **Tall Guy** » Fri 1st Sep 2006 12:25 pm

That'll cheer you up! Good luck with the docs, man, the waiting is the worst bit. Hopefully they'll be able to keep it under control with some meds, and you'll be right as rain.

nytvd · Post by **nytvd** » Tue 5th Sep 2006 07:27 pm

great report thanks.
good luck with your health!