After henna, I had to wait for a hour until it got dry, henna tattoo will become darker after henna gets totally dry and removed. After my henna got dry, I went again to the main street to look for some food. The street was even busier than last time I walked by. Cows, bikes, people, sellers. Take a look at the video I took, I was too focus on filming, in the end I was even tripped by a bicycle. I was lucky that I didn't fall down.

In this post I would like to share with you my henna experience in Varanasi. Henna is a dye prepared from the plant Lawsonia inermis. It has been used for centuries dye skin, hair and fingernails, as well as fabrics such as silk. It's widely used in Arabian countries, North Africa, some places in East Africa and Southeast Asia and in Indian. I've used Lush Henna for hair dye before but for the henna body tattoo, it was the first time. There was this little girl called Srilatha who was smiling at me and asking if I want to do henna. I went inside her house and chose a pattern from her drawing book and let her doing henna for me while the mother was preparing some flower for the coming festival. Srilatha can draw henna very well but she hadn't gotten any sign for her shop yet. During our henna time, she asked me how to put her henna shop in TripAdvisor. Maybe I should have introduced her to Steemit, but of course back then I wasn't any active either.

In my last post about my Varanasi trip, I experienced the spirit-purifying Aarti ritual at Dashashwamedh Ghat along the Ganga River in a Indian saree and took a great walk in the town and made some interesting friends.

In my last post some people asked about my favorite thing in Varanasi, I think North India has the best food. I've never been a vegetarian and always regard myself as a meatatarian, but here in Varanasi even me can become vegetarian because they can somehow make the vegetarian dishes super tasty, tastier than the meat dishes. I've been eating Aloo Dum Banarasi every day during my stay here in Varanasi and Aloo Dum Banarasi is so far my all time favorite dish. I think I already mentioned in my recent posts that I'm such a big fan of Indian food, in Belgium or before in China I've tried so many different Indian restaurants but the best is still in North India. Food there somehow has a special scent that can't have in other countries, I don't know why.

在上部分的瓦拉纳西游记里面，有朋友评论，问我最喜欢瓦拉纳西什么，我觉得是食物。北印的食物真是棒啊，最厉害的是其实在瓦拉纳西很多人是素食主义者。我从来不是素食主义者，相反是无肉不欢的肉食主义，总觉得要有肉才好吃。可是在北印这里，即使是简单的食材也能做出非常美味的菜。比如这个土豆咖喱简直是我吃过最好吃的菜了，我在这里的每一天都在吃这个，而其实一点肉都没有，好吃到我现在想想就流口水，我觉得我可以在印度做一个素食主义者。我是个不折不扣的印度菜的拥护者，在中国比利时和一些其他的国家我都尝过很多印度餐厅，但当然都没有在北印度的好吃，其他地方都好像少了一点什么。



Love at first taste - Aloo Dum Banarasi in a restaurant in Varanasi main street. 就是这个土豆咖喱，一尝钟情。



Aloo Dum Banarasi thali in a family restaurant in Varanasi suburb area, I was seriously eating it the whole time. 我真是是天天再吃这个，吃完了主菜第二天换个餐厅来了个拼盘。



After a satisfying lunch, I found many coconuts in the market. One of the things I miss about India is the super cheap coconut I can find everywhere in the streets. I basically drank it, together with Chai tea instead of water every day.

My original plan for the afternoon was supposed to visit the most famous Golden Temple - Kashi Vishwanath in Varanasi. However there were so many securities outside and didn't seem so tourist friendly and you have to keep everything away to get in, hand in the passport. I heard from the guesthouse owner that in the suburban Varanasi, there's a temple called New Vishwanath Temple close to the university which also exactly the same temple, just not in gold. So I decided to visit New Vishwanath Temple, I can by the way check out that neighborhood, so why not?

However the way to get there was not even close to smooth. It should be 20 minutes drive, but my tuk tuk took almost 1.5 hours due to the heavy traffic jam, tuk tuk driver was one time can't stand this, he jumped out buying some chewing tobacco to kill time. It was just then that I realized those chewing-gum-like like bag that you see everywhere in India was actually chewing tobacco.

吃完美味的午餐，我在市场上发现了椰子摊，买了个椰子喝。在印度最好的一点就是到处可以买到便宜的椰子。椰子和印度奶茶简直是承包我全天的饮料供给。

我本想下午去那个很有名的黄金庙看看，结果很奇怪总是很多的保安在外面，好像不是很欢迎游客，要我把包寄放回去，只允许带点现金进去，还需要把护照押在那里。我回去旅社的时候，旅社老板告诉我其实在市郊有一个新黄金寺，跟这个黄金寺形状是一模一样的，虽然不是金色的。我搜了几张图，觉得很有兴趣，而且还可以顺便看看市郊长什么样子，于是我果断决定弃老去新的庙。

同时我也见识到了印度的交通拥挤情况，简直是惊为天人，20分钟的车程我的突突车开了大概一个半小时。中途连司机也等不及去小店买了可以嚼的烟菜来打发时间。在印度路边小店，一直像口香糖一样的小包装随处可见，原来它是烟草我一直以为是口香糖，长见识。



Clever boy, bicycle is much more efficient during the traffic jam. 还是这小伙聪明，只有自行车可以最好避免交通堵塞。

I learned in India that you have to be patient sometimes, the temple was beautiful and the area was amazing, it got many little shops, markets, food, everything I like about India. It was worth the long wait :) This was the area I had the best ever Aloo Dum Baranasi. New Vishwanath Temple was huge, with my favorite color - pink and beautifully decorated. I can imagine how beautiful the golden temple can be and why people love it so much. The temple is located in a university area so there were many young people around, making it energetic and vibrant.

在印度的旅行教会我要耐心。新黄金庙很漂亮，看到的时候我觉得车程拥堵都值得了。这个区域也很棒，因为是在大学附近，有很多小店，餐馆，市场，年轻人聚集，非常有活力，这些对我来说都很有意思。在这里的一家家庭餐厅（印度的家庭餐厅很棒，服务特别好也不算贵）我也吃到了最好吃的土豆咖喱拼盘。新黄金庙是粉色的，很可爱，这是一个巨大的寺庙，他的内部装饰也很精致，我由此可以想象黄金庙为什么那么受欢迎，金色一定更美丽。

Words in the end: I love Varanasi, it's full of surprise and greatness. I hope you can get a big picture how it look like from my experience in Varanasi and I would highly recommend you to visit the town because even if I tried to show its colors and architectures but I can't show you its taste, smell, plus its amazing vibes. So, come here one day, you won't get disappointed.

Thanks for spending your time reading.

在这里结束我的瓦拉纳西之旅，我非常爱瓦拉纳西，它总是很酷，充满各种惊喜。我希望你们可以通过这个游记稍微有个印象，我试图把它的五彩缤纷展现出来，但是我没有办法把它的气味和味道展现给你们。所以我还是要强烈推荐去瓦拉纳西看一看，去体验它带来的各种感官刺激。一定不会让你失望。

谢谢花时间阅读。

I hope you like my post, feel welcome to take a look at my other recent posts:

A look at the Dutch language corner - Learning Dutch and making multicultural friends. 在比利时的荷兰语角交朋友学习语言。

ColorChallenge - ThursdayGreen - Medieval Bagrati Cathedral in Kutaisi, Georgia. 格鲁吉亚的中世纪绿顶教堂。

Steemitphotochallenge # 44 - Food Entry 3 | 食物 - South Indian Fish Thali 南印度的鱼咖喱拼盘

Watching Indian traditional Kathakali show in Kochi, Kerala. 在印度科钦观赏喀拉拉邦的传统戏剧

[Favorite cities] #1 - Colorful and Vibrant Buenos Aires - Part A [城市篇] 一起去五彩绚丽的布宜诺斯艾利斯吧！

[Favorite cities] #1 - Colorful and Vibrant Buenos Aires - Part B [城市篇] 一起去五彩绚丽的布宜诺斯艾利斯吧！

ColorChallenge - WednesdayYellow - yellow Dutch clog

「Off-the-beaten-track Travel」 Kyrgyzstan + Kazakhstan + Xinjiang 48-day solo trip preparation 冷门路线系列：我的丝路旅行。准备篇