The Agra Fort Incident

We were pleasantly surprised on leaving the rug factory to discover it was raining, with a very pleasant accompanying drop in temperature (to the low 90sF). We piled into the rickshaw for the relatively short drive over to Agra Fort which is located about 2.5 km from the Taj Mahal. Agra Fort, mentioned in history as far back as 1080AD, was used at one time as the capital of the Mughal empire. We headed on into the fort over the drawbridge across a moat into a gate in the lofty walls. High on the walls were monkeys sitting or running along the top. Eventually the path opened into a large square which we walked around taking pictures. Then Phil handed me his camera with the instructions to take a picture of him jumping off some steps. Seemed like a great idea. We set the camera to rapid fire which allowed me to take 4 shots per second and he climbed up for the leap. The leap was great - arms out - face to the camera - big grin. Phil hit the ground and I stopped snapping, but then he lost his balance and fell back. I quickly took another shot, laughing that he had lost his balance. It was immediately apparent that all was not well - "I think I sprained my ankle!" he said. Off came the sock as a crowd began to gather to inspect, including a security guard (who was about to yank on Phil's toes as part of the inspection but Phil stopped him). The ankle was already beginning to swell, but Phil decided to stand and see if he could put any weight on it. Nope! In fact he decided it was time to lay down before he actually fainted. We left him laying there on the steps to recover, security guard hovering, while the 3 of us headed off for a quick look at the rest of the fort. It is huge - part of it actually still in use by the Indian Army and thus off limits. From one side you could look down the river and see the Taj Mahal in the distance. When we finished our quick sight seeing, it was back to Phil to see how he was doing and figure out how we were going to make it back to the rickshaw. He wasn't walking anywhere, and it had been a lengthy walk into the heart of the fort from the main road. Hopping with an arm over James and Merv's shoulders didn't last long - hopping is VERY tiring. Then there was the crossed arms carry position - also quickly discarded. Finally James tried piggy-back. What a beast! He ended up carrying Phil all the way back out to the road with only one rest. It was amazing. We had drawn lots of stares before - imagine how it was now! :-)

Eventually arriving back at the railroad station we had to figure out a way to get Phil all the way down one platform, up the elevated walkway to cross a few sets of tracks and then back down to the platform on the other side. It turned out there was a wheelchair available so we hired a coolie, loaded Phil up and set off. This pedestrian bridge over the tracks was actually a ramp, highly unusual for India. However, it was so steep that it took one of us pulling with the coolie pushing to get the wheelchair up. Coming down the other side it also took two people for braking the chair. We made it though, boarded the train when it arrived and had an uneventful 3 hour return journey to Delhi. The wheelchair in Delhi did not work out quite so well. As soon as we arrived I jumped off the train and set off in search of a wheelchair. I eventually found one near the main entrance, a coolie was co-opted (against his will) and we set off to retrieve Phil. As soon as Phil sat down we discovered that this chair was long past its prime. The wheels were so loose that they would rub on the frame and hardly turn. James and I tried supporting the front by each grabbing an arm rest but the wobbling wheel would end up running over James' foot so we had to stop that. Another solution was needed. Suddenly Phil got up, hopped/climbed into the train still sitting at the platform, and went out the door on the far side onto the tracks with us following. The coolie was left behind shouting at us - he had to stay with the wheelchair since it was his responsibility. With Phil hopping we traversed along the railroad bed and across about six sets of tracks, finally reaching a back street and a block later out on the main road. A taxi was located, we climbed in and about 30 minutes later were checking in at the YMCA. Tomorrow we would see how bad the ankle was going to be.