It’s always something at the Samrat …

The hotel we have been staying at in Murshidabad is Hotel Samrat. Our first experience here was not a great one. Pretty much every person who worked here was incredibly rude to us. And not just me and my friend, but my friend’s mom and sister who were also staying here for a couple of days. It just seemed that every encounter was a negative one. We were happy to try a different guest house that was closer to some of the work we would be doing that week. But after an invasion of cockroaches in our room, combined with already held the concerns about general safety as well as the quality of the food, we quickly came back to the city. But first we tried another hotel – The White House. Nice name, huh. Anyway, there was a reason we were put in Samrat in the first place, it definitely is the best quality hotel in the area. So when we came back to Murshidabad for this two week trip, we are back at the Samrat. The service is much better, but I swear there is always something.

If it’s not the AC that isn’t working (again), it’s the fluorescent light flashing that needs to be replaced. And of course, they don’t believe us when we call. So they have to send multiple people to come and see that it won’t stop flickering before they actually just replace the thing. Currently our bathroom looks like a forest with all the bugs and moths and crickets that have made it their new home, along with a couple of lizards who are not doing their jobs and eating the darn bugs.

Every day is a new adventure here in India, whether one of our meetings or errands we have to run or some new experience. But it also seems that every day there is something new at the Samrat. All part of the experience though. You just have to shrug it off, be happy with the experience you are having and everything you are learning, and move on to the next adventure.