Exceeded my expectations. As exotic as the world comes, in my humble opinion. Saw the funeral pyres, vibed it up with the cycle of life along the river and ghats: cremations, ablutions, con jobs, prayers, monkey shit, cow shit, human shit…it’s all in-your-face as so many previous travelers have said. Life, with all the filters stripped away. The sublime, the base, the shameful, the inspiring, all in one place. That was Varanasi for me.