This was the day I had been waiting for and had to be ready to be picked up at 5.30 AM to see the sunrise at the Taj Mahal. We had only slept for a short time, it was hot, busy and none of us had eaten before we went although Sam drank lots of coffee and water getting up at 3 a.m reading her notes to interpret. But I do think she is a little crazy to do that! Tanya and I stayed in bed longer and slept and ignored her telling us to drink plenty of water before we went.
We were picked up by our guides and then driven to the area near the Taj Mahal. We then swapped vehicles and went on a golf buggy to get closer to the Taj Mahal. It took us to the entrance; we then went through security checks to go inside the Taj Mahal grounds.
This was an experience I will never forgot it was one of the best of my life so far. The temperature was really hot even though it was early in the morning and we knew it would become hotter as the day went on. I saw the bench that Lady Diana had sat on and I wanted to go there but when I sat there, I didn’t feel safe on my own so I sat with Sam and went back in my manual wheelchair after a photo or two.
There were lots of people queuing to sit there I didn’t realise how many people would be visiting from all over the world.
There were so many steps and people hurrying past. I then came out of my chair to look on a stone platform at the Taj Mahal and listen to the stories. I loved to listen to the guides stories of the love story of the Taj Mahal and its sadness too.
Tanya, Sam and I had to work really well together as a team to be able to make sure I could do what I wanted here. I wanted to walk in the grounds of the Taj Mahal and up the steps to it.
I climbed the stairs and listened and then when it was time to go down the steps I was guided down by my support I did not realise there was water so near to me and no rails on the steps. If I had of seen them I would have panicked. She made sure I couldn’t see it.
As we looked around the grounds and made our way to the Taj Mahal I said to Sam I thought I had Delhi Belly and I was panicking looking for accessible toilets. She told me not to worry, what I was describing was hunger , I had woken up earlier than my usual routine and we were burning energy climbing up and down the stairs in the heat and we would be just fine, just relax and enjoy the Taj Mahal. She looked at me with those bossy eyes and told me to drink water and sprayed Tanya and I with her water spray. Then she gave me chocolate spread, I have no idea where it came from but I loved it. Sometimes I think she has strange things in her bag but does have something for every emergency including emergency chocolate situations to keep me alive. Ha Ha, mum had laughed at her packing them in her giant pink suitcase but I was happy we had the spray.
We were told we needed shoe protectors in one area as we came closer and when we got to the next section we were told there were no wheelchairs allowed passed this point. We looked at each other and Tanya and Sam said there was no way we would come this far and not all three of us reach the inside of the Taj Mahal. The guides thought we were crazy. We told them to stand aside and find someone to look after the chair, we were going up!
Altogether to reach the top of the Taj Mahal entrance I walked up around 80 steps!!! We all had to take our time and lots of breaks drinking water, spraying water, leaning on walls in the shade and sitting on the ground as there are no chairs there.
This is a video of the view from the top of the steps closest to the Taj Mahal
I felt shattered! At the top of the final stairs I then went inside the tomb area and listened to the guides story and description.
When we were on our way down the steps I was a little bit scared as I don’t like going down and I always worry about the risk. I can have sudden movements and they are hard to control if I am anxious. But Tanya and Sam know my body well and what to expect. People try and be nice by grabbing my hand and saying it’s wonderful to see me going down the stairs but I am deaf, if you grab my hand I will jump and have a sudden movement I cannot control. It was hot, we are all communicating by tactile sign on our bodies and we are trying to get down steps were people are rushing because they have travelled far to see the Taj Mahal. Tanya and Sam asked the guides to warn people not to push past and stop people from touching my arm, thankfully they did.
When I finally got back in my manual wheelchair I felt so shattered. We then had to wait for the golf car. I felt so proud of myself that I had achieved seeing the Taj Mahal. Tanya said she was proud of me and proud of us for what we had done. I relied I was hungry!
I then signed to Sam, who looked at me shocked and said please repeat that. I then said “Yes, my next challenge I plan to go to Amsterdam and I would like to see Ann Franks house and climb all the stairs”
Sam said she couldn’t believe I was already thinking about the next challenge and we had not even returned to the van and we were still in the grounds. She thought she had been in the sun too long and was hallucinating me signing that, haha!
We drove back to the hotel and ate. Tanya and I were worn out we went for a sleep, for 7 hours! In the evening we stayed in the hotel grounds and watched a puppet show as we had no energy for anything else.
Nadia Clarke 