Netherlands – Dream Land for Tourists of the World – by – Raja Liaqat Ali

Raja Liaqat Ali

Netherlands is truly Dream Land for the tourists from around the world. The beauty of its landscape and the hospitality of the people of this great country attracted me as well to visit at least once in life. Fortunately, Netherlands has always been kind to me in terms of visas. For the first time, I applied for a visa in 2011 with the well-known journalist and my friend late Ashfaq Sajid. Until then, the Netherlands did not contract with Jerry Fedex for applications, but applications were received directly at the diplomatic enclave. Late Ashfaq Sajid had been to Holland many times before, a very dear friend of mine whom I always considered and respected as my elder brother. Muhammad Sagheer Bhatti lived in Amsterdam and was doing his business.

He sponsored me. I and the late Sajid Ashfaq went to the Embassy of Holland in Diplomatic Enclave and submitted the passport and visa application. A nice Dutch lady at the window took our visa application and asked us a few questions in a very pleasant manner and asked us to return our passports in a few days. I had previously gone to the UK on a visit visa while Dubai, Abu Dhabi were also on the rounds.

After a few days, I and late Ashfaq Sajid again went to Holland Embassy to get passports. The same beautiful lady returned our passports with a beautiful smile and said that both of them have been given a three-month multiple entry visa. At the same time, this lovely lady said, rather insisted, to see the Dutch city of Amsterdam in detail. This city is one of the most densely populated cities in the world, but it is also a dream city for tourists in the true sense of the word, with attractions from all over the world and you will never get bored if you stay there even for a month at a time.

Since we were both journalists, we did not have the joy or excitement of getting a visa like one usually gets when one gets a visa to Europe. Since we were doing journalism in Islamabad for many years and were living here. That’s why we liked life in Islamabad. But I was especially passionate about tourism. And still visiting new places, meeting new people, visiting historical places, learning about famous people, I loved from the beginning. I had googled the information about Netherlands that it is one of the richest countries in Europe.

Netherlands is not big country in terms of area but densely populated.Amsterdam  is especially the center of tourists from all over the world. Also read that this city is called “city of canals”. A canal also flows along every road, just as cars and carriages run on the roads. Similarly, canal boats, water boats and cruises are also used for travel.

Some friends had told that a large part of the city was built by pushing back the sea and filling it with earth. After getting the visa, we made a program that first we will go to UK and then from there to Holland. Both of us already had UK visa. So we took a return ticket from Islamabad to Birmingham because our schedule was something like that we would go to France, Belgium and then Holland through UK and then back to England from Holland and stay for a few days in UK because we have special interest in UK. Late Ashfaq Sajid had many friends to whom he often visited.

We left Islamabad for Birmingham in November 2011 as per our program. Late Ashfaq Sajid’s nephew came to pick us up at the airport. It was very cold. Our plan was to stay in Birmingham for two days and then go to London.

In Birmingham, I met Iqbal through Ashfaq Sajid, and Saeed Bhalla for the first time, which later turned into friendship. Ashfaq left us crying and now he has gone to this world where we all have to go but friends like Iqbal and Saeed still meet like brothers because of Ashfaq Sajid. While Saeed lives in a posh area of ​​Birmingham Mr. Iqbal used to live in Coventry city but now he has sold that house and settled in another city.

Both of them are from Kamonki, Punjab. I met them for the first time in 2009 in Coventry and this meeting quickly turned into a good friendship which is still strong today. Drive, stop at places to drink coffee, enjoy lots of jokes and music during the drive. Ashfaq Sajid’s beautiful poetry and his serious style. Even today, when I remember it, the heart becomes very sad, but the journey and life never stop.

Break only occurs in case of death. We took permission from Iqbal and Saeed and then we left for London by train. Ashfaq Sajid’s friend Shahid Rafiq Awan, Akbar Lahori were our hosts there. Akbar Lahori is a lawyer and mostly works on student issues while Shahid Rafique Awan has his own business and is a key leader and official of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.