Visiting the White, Pink and Grey Cities (and more)

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Time to report on my 'Northern Summer 2026' trip and I went to India for the 3rd time. The original plan was to go all the way to Turkey and Greece to meet up with relatives who had something on there that got cancelled. I opted to still go to India as I had the rewards seats and didn't want to lose them knowing my chances of securing seats at that late notice with points was scarce and I paid cash for a trip later in the year (going to the US for Thanksgiving). My cities were: Bengaluru, Udaipur (the White City), Jaipur (The Pink City), Agra (seeing the Taj for the second time) and Delhi (the smog city). I had a lot of new experiences even in places I'd been to before, and spectacular experiences in the places I had not been to.

Put into AI where a typical Nick-style trip starts and this is where it always does, with the same meal.











VH-EBS, one of my most frequented A330s - it was the 5th time I'd been on it. Sat in my favouite 8-seat mini cabin and snagged 7A.










On we go. This little Rex turboprop chased us to Dubbo for the first 45 minutes only to land there.



I hadn't been to Dubbo in two decades when I was in primary school. Except for one time in January 2023 when I flew to Broken hill and back and we had to make a landing at Dubbo because the toilet was broken and we couldn't be in the air for as long as we'd be if we flew direct. Seeing it from the air reminded me I need to return someday sooner rather than later.

 

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For food I chose the buffalo mozorella, the lamb shoulder and the 'salted caramel mousse' in the first course. For the second I chose the Kerala duck curry and cherry cheesecake (in a glass).











Made it to Bengaluru on time and immigration was a breeze. As we taxxied in I saw one of Qantas' A321XLRs sitting on the other side of the aircraft, in between delivery flights. It was VH-OGG, the one with the coral reef livery flying Hamburg to Bengaluru and would fly Bengaluru to Brisbane later that night.











I had a one night layover before going to Udaipur the next day so chose a hotel near the airport - the Quality Inn. Was 15 minutes drive away and only cost about A$65 for the night. Did the job, that's all I can say about the room. I particularly appreciated the rooftop pool which seemed to be right under the flightpath of the airport.

 

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My first stop would be in Udaipur and it was 2 hours in Indigo. It would be a long day with a tour organised to meet me at the airport, drive me around and drop me back at the airport in time for an onward flight to Jaipur. Indigo operates from the older Terminal 1. There are some decent dining options when it is lunch or dinner time but it was mostly just coffee shops open. I just went to Starbucks.





VT-IBE would be our chariot.



Seat room was OK as was the vegetable biriyani that I ordered. It was heated like instant noodles but did the job.



It seems Udaipur is just about to open a new terminal, I could see it being built nextdoor.








My driver picked me up from the kerb and drove me downtown where I'd meet my guide for the day. Took 30 minutes drive including a brief stop to withdraw cash. The agenda would be to see the City Palace, then go on a boat ride to Jag Mandir Island Palace, then see the Saheliyon-ki-Bari gardens and have a bite to eat before going back to the airport.

 

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Udaipur lies right in between Mumbai and Delhi. It is commonly called the City of Lakes because it has 7 artificial lakes. The Royal Palace we'd be visiting was actually still occupied by the royal family today - even though they no longer are the formal monarchs, they kept the palace and live at part of it. Currently the head of the house is Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar.

The city was named after the founding monarch of the town. It has 1m people, for comparison's sake Jaipur has 3m. My guide told me that many locals are retirees because the lifestyle is more laid back and so there is not as much life here compared to other cities.

At the City Palace we got dropped off at the gate and we took a golf cart up the hill. It is common in India tours to have a separate guide and driver, the driver will sit idle until you're done at your attraction. I got some good views of the lake going up the hill.





And here we are. The part of the palace the current 'monarch' lives in, is adjacent. And apparently you can hire the forecourt here, and others if you wanted, for weddings. Not a cheap exercise though: my guide told me one couple spent US$180m to have a wedding here.





So from hereon in, it was just a walk through the palace. For the most part I'll let the pictures do the talking but I will note that a lot of the doors had low ceilings and the steps were unevenly positioned. This was apparently to make it more difficult for intruders to get a foothold in the palace. Most of it was old rooms but there was a major display of weaponery at the start.





The first of several courtyards. As you'll see in other similar palaces, most notoriously the Hawa Mahal which I visited a few days later, it was common for windows to be positioned so you couldn't see inside but those inside could see outside.















My guide explained this room by saying it was like owls in Harry Potter - in the sense that birds would deliver mail.

 

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Continued...



The future George V visited Udaipur in 1905 and again in 1911 after he ascended. The next monarch to visit would be Elizabeth II in 1961.













By now, we'd made our way near the top and I had a good view of the courtyard I'd started the trip at.

 

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More of the Udaipur City Palace.



Either the King or Queen's bedroom.

















This was the largest courtyard of all and I was told a wedding occured a few days before.

 

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After this I was sent on a boat ride that would take me around the main river and then to the Jag Mandir Palace. It took a century to build and was apparently home to Shan Jahan for a while before he became emperor, rebelling against his father. And apparently it was here where he was inspired by white marble. Unfortunatly it ended up being a let down because most of the inside stuff was inaccessible. I had coke and penne pasta for lunch and it was OK. But I did appreciate the boat ride.



















The smallest squirrels I've ever seen.