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AMSTERDAM

Amsterdam is also known to be a haven for hippies. It has moved since then to be a bigger economy and a successful cosmopolitan business centre. The hippie era was the 60’s and 70’s when Amsterdam got its name of hippie haven from free for all culture. Most people visualize this expired idea even today.

The new economy has brought prosperity all around evident from growing business zones and transformation of the general landscape surrounding ancient town houses and canals.

With about ¾ of a million of populace, the transformation of Amsterdam from a hippie haven to a buzzing business city is not yet complete. The culture of free thinking and collective living has not yet gone away. Only the free culture is not an offshoot of semi legal toxic and exotic plants, but a by product of successful economic growth today.

Today’s Amsterdam does not welcome the hippie youth that thinks getting high on hash is a part of the city’s culture but prefers youth that have a spending capacity. It’s not that one can’t smoke hash but Amsterdam has slowly transformed itself into a city where you can smoke hash and enjoy the city without a big damage to the pocket.

Amsterdam historically has been a major trading post during the colonial times, the reason why you will find scattered town houses around the otherwise neatly aligned canals. These were made by the then wealthy tradesmen. Today these houses mostly house smoke shops, exotic night life and a string of brothels. This historical irony has been taken in stride by the local populace and by a collective decision licensed the brothels and the sale of hash in licensed coffee shops. These are a major tourist attraction today.

It would be wrong to think that the locals are addicted or are always high on marijuana. They are busy planning and remodeling a few town houses into various centers of innovative business, they are busy biking around or tasting ethnic food or just relaxing watching life from the sidelines reading newspapers on a sidewalk café.

Amsterdam has its own charm that casts a spell when you see the 1200 odd bridges lighted up over 150 odd canals. The glory of Amsterdam charms you further when it emerges form the mist in the mornings. The days could not more perfect for a visitor when he visits the flower market that floats, Rembrandt Museum, Jewish Historical Museum and the obvious social joints like nightclubs, brown cafes etc.

English is most prevalent language of Amsterdam; it is spoken fluently by a major portion of the populace. The basic attitude of people here is very friendly and carefree, as much that one could chat up a local in course of one beer.

Each province of Netherlands has its own tourist organization strewn around with multi lingual attendants. These Associations for Foreign Travel, as they are called or in short VVV (fay-fay-fay), book accommodations, help making travel arrangements and  keeps the visitor abreast with latest programmes. They also publish Amsterdam Day by Day, a monthly magazine stating programmes for the month for a mere $2.50.

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Wish For Bangladesh

Wish For Bangladesh

Bangladesh Informations

Bangladesh emerged as an independent and sovereign country in 1971 following a ninemonth war of liberation. It is one of the largest deltas of the world with a total area of 147,570 sq. km. With a unique communal harmony, Bangladesh has a population of about 142 million, making it one of the densely populated countries of the world. The majority (about 88%) of the people are Muslim. Over 98% of the people speak in Bangla. English, however, is widely spoken. The country is covered with a network of rivers and canals forming a maze of interconnecting channels.
Bangladesh has a glorious history and rich heritage. Once it was known as ‘Sonar Bangla’ or the Golden Bengal. The territory now constituting Bangladesh was under the Muslim rule for over five and a half centuries from 1201 to 1757 AD. Subsequently, it came under the British rule following the defeat of the sovereign ruler, Nawab Sirajuddaula, at the battle of Palassey on 23 June, 1757. The British ruled over the Indian sub-continent including this territory for nearly 190 years from 1757 to 1947. During that period, Bangladesh was a part of the British Indian provinces of Bengal and Assam. With the termination of British rule in August 1947, the sub-continent was partitioned into India and Pakistan. Bangladesh formed a part of Pakistan and was called ‘East Pakistan’. It remained so for about 24 years from August 14, 1947 to March 25, 1971. Bangladesh liberated on December 16, 1971 following the victory of the War of Liberation and appeared on the world map as an independent and sovereign country.The country is the pioneer in micro-credit concept for poverty reduction, which brought the Nobel Prize in Peace for the country in 2006. The founder of world reputed Grameen Bank Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus is the Nobel laureate.

The Natural Beauty Of Bangladesh

Have you thought of a dream holiday where you see yourself on that very attractive magical coastline with very beautiful features like those in the fairy tales? Did you know that such features really exist on this very planet?

Talking of wonderful eye-catching sites let us take a trip to the North Eastern part of south Asia and land safely in one of the most beautiful countries on the planet: Bangladesh. The country is surrounded by some of the most prominent geographical features studied worldwide. To the north of Bangladesh are the famous Himalayas while the bay of the Bengal borders her from the South. To her East is the hilly region of Tripura, India and Myanmar. Finally to her West lies the west Bengal. Together these features form a low lying plain in between that is the country in their midst; Bangladesh.

The plain between all these features has plenty of rivers flowing across it forming a nice natural beautiful pattern of rivers and streams network. Padma, Meghna, Kamafull and Brahmaputra are the major rivers in this very beautiful land.

History goes hand in hand with the Natural Beauty of Bangladesh. Talking of historical sites she has quite a number of rich archeological sites to offer. This includes the Paharpur, Maianamati, Sonargaon among many others.

It also has a historical mosques and monuments. The sixty Dome mosque built in the 15th century is the largest historical in Bangladesh as well as the words heritage is situated in Bagerhat. It is also upheld for an outstanding architectural value. However, the Shait Gombuj mosque is the most magnificent and the largest brick mosque surviving in the country.

Bangladesh is not just named a natural beauty for nothing this is a title that it has fought for through its great and eye catching extraordinary features. She happens to be the home to the world's longest natural beach in the whole world. The land is mainly covered by plant cover as most of the people practice Agriculture.

Apart from the natural beauty of Bangladesh brought forth by the flora in the country, the country also has a great deal of wildlife. She is the home of the dhole; the most endangered Asiatic top predator that is on the edge of extinction. It also has the Asian elephant which is the largest mammal. Finally she has the Bengal tiger which is the national animal of the country. The next time you thinking of spending time in a beautiful place where you will be able to watch and appreciate nature's beauty, think of Bangladesh.