Finding a Hotel (Friday, 10/3)

So Grace gets discharged on Saturday, so it’s time to find a hotel. I walk out of the hotel and find a rickshaw on the street. After a minute or two of negotiations, we agree on 100 rupees, so I hop in. When we get there I look for the nearest hotel and direct the driver there. We get to the hotel and he then demands 200 rupees. I say no and try to hand him 100. We argue for several minutes and I refuse to get out of the rickshaw. Eventually I agree to 120 Rupees just to get rid of this guy. Later I find out that what I should have done was refuse to give the guy was to tell him to go to the police station, which apparently scares the shit out of them.
Anyways, so I am now standing in front of the “Hotel MGM Apple.” I go inside to check on the prices. At about 1800 rupees/night, I think I can do better, so I start walking down the road paralleling the. After walking a little ways, I get flagged down by another rickshaw driver who I thoroughly ignore until he drives away. I take some more pictures and keep walking. All of a sudden this guy comes up to me and introduces himself as Kumar. Fantastic, and why should I care? “Nice to meet you” I say, shake his hand, and continue walking. He again proceeds to get my attention, and offer to show me around for only 10 rupees. I am in search of a cheap hotel, so I ask him if he knows a hotel for less than 1000 rupees. He says that he does and that he will show me. I get in the rickshaw and he drives me to a hotel that costs 950 rupees, and has both an elevator and air-conditioning (things Grace has deemed necessary for the next place that we stay). Fantastic! I start checking into the hotel, when my driver comes up and tells me to come outside. Fine, whatever. So I walk outside and am now told that there is another hotel for only 600 rupees. I ask if this other hotel has AC and they say that it does. Sounds great. So I tell the people at the desk that it is too expensive, and we leave for the cheaper hotel.
He drives me to another hotel and tells me to stay in the rickshaw and he will go in to negotiate price. A little strange, but fine, it’s worth a shot. He comes back out a couple minutes later and tells me that they are all booked up. So they drive me to another hotel. I go inside and check out the prices, but they are even more expensive than the hotel I was just at. I express this to the driver with much emphasis, to which he apologizes and tells me he knows another hotel. He drives me to the next hotel, I check the prices, and they too are higher than the first hotel. WTF! I tell the hotel manager that it costs too much, he seems uninterested, and I leave. Now I ask my driver again if there is actually any place cheaper. He gets on the phone, talks to someone for a couple minutes, and then says that he does indeed know of such a place, so I get back in the rickshaw and we drive to the next place. We get to where we are going; I get out, and realize it is the same hotel he took me to in the first place. Seriously, WTF! Screw it. So I go back inside, pretend like nothing ever happened, book the room, and pay 3000 rupees as a deposit for the first couple days. They ask me where my luggage is and I inform them that it is still at the hospital, and that we will be coming back later. They seem confused, but go along with it. I get the driver to take me back to the hospital, pay him for his time, and head back upstairs. Upon returning to the room, I inform Grace that I found a cheap place to stay. At this point she informs me that we are not checking out of the hospital until tomorrow, but that we will not know for sure until later in the evening… are you freaking kidding me!? Whatever. So I get a call on my cell phone asking me if we will be checking in tonight. I try to explain that I am not sure and we might be checking in tomorrow. The problem is that the Indian phone system sucks and neither of us can understand what the other is saying. Eventually they just keep repeating “when are you coming,” to which I keep repeating “tomorrow.” This cycle repeats its self about a dozen times before they finally hang up. Whatever, I will figure it out tomorrow. This is definitely India.