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

[NSun]

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.

 

[NSun]

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.

 

[NSun]

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.

 

[NSun]

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.

 

[NSun]

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.

 

[NSun]

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.

 

[NSun]

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.

 

[NSun]

My guide, true to his word, waited for me and took me back to the main entrance. He suggested we get in a tuk tuk and go to a nearby Hindu temple, the Jangdish temple. We went towards it and saw it was busy. We had a look from the outside, then went up the steps just to see the view but did not go on.







Then we caught the same tuk tuk back down to the palace and our driver picked us. Unfortunately we had to stop at one of 'those shops', the tourist traps. Various models from people who built the City Palace, so I was told - never heard that one before. I tried to tell him no based on my experiences before but he said just take a look, don't buy anything. So that's what I did and then walked out after just a minute.



The next stop would be the Saheliyon Ki Bari - a garden designed by the king for his wife, and shared amongst the royal women.















Then we drove around one of the other lakes - specifically the Fateh Sagar Lake which is immediately north to the lake I was on before (Pichola). Right in the middle of it there was an observatory.







I was taken to a place to have lunch and was told my driver would take me back when I was done. Not sure if he knew I'd had lunch so I just had ice cream and exploited the chance to connect to wifi. Ice cream was good though.

 

[NSun]

From there I thought I'd be a standard Indigo turboprop flight up to Jaipur. But it was more of an adventure than I thought. Got to the airport at 3.30pm with plenty of time to spare and tried to charge my phone and laptop but just for some reason never worked. Not in the sense of the computer sensed a connection but warned 'no charging' but the cable didn't show up at all. Funnily enough, all the ports post-security worked so it was clearly just that powerpoint. There wasn't too much post-security although there were some desks in the corner where I worked at.







Our aircraft VT-IRA. Not really a fan of the ATRs even if only because they board from the back.



We got on a bus and were driven right here and thought we were going to board. So we thought. We were held there for 15 minutes, then drove back to the terminal. The explanation was bad weather in Jaipur. Fair enough. But India has no sterile transit, not even domestic and not even in situations like this. We got dropped off to the arrivals section and had to go through security all over again and waited an hour and a half to board. Look, this could've happened with any airline but there were no announcements, I had to go up and ask someone. And just before we boarded, someone got a mistake email that the flight was cancelled and everyone suddenly ran to the boarding agent yelling at them. But it was a case of second time lucky.





45 minutes later, landed in Jaipur. I took some consolation in that there was at least 1 more flight to go with this aircraft.






Now another gripe I have with Indian airports is that connecting to the wifi is like rocket science - and I needed it to connect to Uber. In most other places you just press a couple of buttons on your phone, give them your email and done. But here you go to a terminal kiosk and get a code. Then go into your phone and connect but you need an Indian phone number. I decided to just make one up, but that failed. So I went to the helpdesk and the person couldn't despite trying with my number several times. But rather then giving up, this person entered their own phone number (I think) to enable me to connect. I'll be eternally grateful to them.

Then it was a 10km ride to my hotel, the Holiday Inn Express. This is the building during the day.







The view from my room.



A view from the corridoor





And from the gym the next morning.



The agenda for tommorrow was another guided tour where I would visit the Amber and Jaigarh Forts (with the latter containing the world's largest cannon on wheels) as well as the famous Hawa Mahal. You're probably thinking at this point,' Isn't Jaipur the pink city'? Well, yes but only in the old part of the town and its really more of a rust colour rather than the shade we'd call pink. But the day awaiting tommorrow would be a good one.

 

[NSun]

First thing I did in the morning was go to the gym, followed by breakfast. At Holiday Inn Express properties, breakfasts are included and it was at a dedicated cafe on the second floor.







Chocolate cake for breakfast anyone?



The pickup was at 9 so (not knowing how much walking I would do) walk around the local area. I noticed a metro station just 100m away as well as a lot of pigeons and cows.









This time it was just one person who was doing the driving but did not accompany me. He suggested we go to the Forts before the Hawa Mahal because the forts would be quieter, but we did go by the Hawa Mahal briefly. For about 15 minutes I saw no pink, until I got to the old city wall. Then for about 10 minutes, everything was in that shade of pink.







I was let off at the Hawa Mahal and told I could look for 5 minutes then call when I was ready to go on. I would go in properly on the way back and have lunch at a cafe right across the road from the palace. But was good to have a glimpse early on. Its name is 'Wind Palace' in Persian and was built in 1799. It is 50 feet (or 15m tall) and has 953 windows. The intention was to allow royal women to observe everyday life without being seen.





I mean, come on, this is amazing.

And this is what was right across the road.



Anyway, then it was onward to the forts.

 

[NSun]

In the picture above is the Amber Fort (built in 1592) and the Jaigarh Fort is even further up the hill. I'd visit them both but started at the bottom in the courtyard and made my way up. My driver dropped me off and told me to call him when I was ready. I forgot to take a picture from the bottom entrance so this is it when I was halfway up the hill to the main entrance.





Again, notice the steps are uneven to confuse would-be invaders.





And inside the main courtyard.







Tickets can be bought on this floor. This is the view of the other side of the palace from there.



The full courtyard when I began to ascend.







We came to another courtyard and it was the Hall of Public Audience, where visitors and other officials would be met. It would also be where celebrations of wartime battles or the monarch's birthday would be celebrated.







Then went through some back corridors to reach another courtyard.

 

[NSun]

More of the fort.

















And then I came out and started the long walk up to the other fort (Jaigarh). This one was built 150 years after Amber, prior to which it was a hill looking over Amber - so presumably the emperor just decided it had to be covered. I managed to walk all the way, it is 400m above Amber, but couldn't walk back down and caught a golf buggy.













Yes this is how high we were.










The highlight is the 300 year old Jaivana cannon that was the largest cannon in the world when it was built and could fire 35km.

 

[NSun]

The ride back down took 5 minutes and my driver picked me up.



Then it was back to the Hawa Mahal and this time I got to go inside.



The entrance is on the other side of the building, through an alleyway.







It actually isn't that interesting from the inside - at least for something so beautiful from the outside; and it is difficult to navigate with mostly ramps except one very narrow staircase at the top - so narrow only one direction can move at a time.















This is from the other side of one of the windows.





And this is what you see from the top.



This is the view down to the courtyard.

 

[NSun]

Then it was time for lunch and I went to the Tattoo Cafe. I had the signature Hawa Mahal burger which was essentially a cheeseburger but with potato paddies rather than beef. Lunch cost only about A$15 including a strawberry lassi. Really, you're only dining here for the view and the balcony but can't really complain. You did need to pay a deposit of 250 rupees (just under A$4) that gets deducted from your final payment.





Apparently, Gary Mehigan once visited Jaipur and this restaurant.





8/10 from me





Just look at that view.

 

[drron]

I wouldn’t stand a chance touring the forts unless the golf carts could take you up and stop at the various levels.
But the Hawa is a gem having mostly ramps. Well before it’s time looking after people with mobility issues. And looks fantastic as well.

 

[NSun]

The next day I went on to Agra. I took the train and it took 3 hours. While I had taken trains in India before, I hadn't been prepared for the experiences I would have. I got to the station 30 minutes early and there was a train to stop at our platform 10 minutes before. I saw there were digital signs of the car number in advance and thought car C2 on that train would be there on the next one. I was completely wrong - not just that C2 was not there, but it was at the other end of the station. And this station was twice the length of central so ran to get there.

Made it in the end and I was in an air conditioned carriage with a seat that was one of four around the table.









Once onboard, I enjoyed the journey. I quite like seeing rural parts of countries that you otherwise wouldn't see.







Made it to Agra on time.



I don't know why, but I decided to walk to my hotel thinking it was only 3km. It probably was still that length but took quite a while given it was mostly narrow streets. Foolish in hindsight but I did what I did and made it in one piece.









Made it. I stayed at the Holiday Inn.

 

[NSun]

I took an Uber to the Taj Mahal. I just vaguely chose the Taj and ended up going to the East entrance and took twice as long as the West entrance. There was a metro line being built near my hotel and if I stay here again, it'll likely be easier to get there than it was this time. Vehicles cannot come within a kilometre of two of the Taj so I decided to walk from there when I could've caught a golf cart. Not pictured: Tonnes of touts trying to sell me things.



Once I got to the gate one asked for my ticket and it was digital. This guy lied to me saying that digital tickets would not work, but mine did. I just asked if he was some kind of official and he backed off. I think I'm beginning to get a bit of a kick out of giving them a dose of their own medicine.



So it was straight into the courtyard, and straight through the main arch.











Viola!













After my last visit in 2023 where I was basically dragged by my guide and his tout, I did it my way just silently observing. It was 35 degrees, not as bad as I thought it'd be, but still more than 12 degrees warmer than last time. I took time to observe the garden on the other side as I gave closer thought as to if a 'Black Taj' had ever been built. Legend and rumour had it that Shan Jahan wanted to build one for himself, given his grave is the only non-symmetrical part of the Taj, the garden on the other side is flawlessly aligned and one of the first European explorers to visit the Taj wrote about it. For better or worse, we'll never know - but just imagine two of them.







You have to pay an extra 200 rupees to go inside.

 

[NSun]

After this I made my way back to the other end of the complex and just sat there for a while. I ended up having a group of Indian kids say hello to me and had a 15 minute conversation with them. Was very fun. Likely hadn't seen westerners before but loved cricket - I told them I lived 15 minutes from the SCG and that got them very interested.







So after this I went to see the so-called Baby Taj - the tomb of the father of one of Shan Jahan's mothers in law. Or specifically, the Tomb of I'timād-ud-Daulah.

Some suspect it was an inspiration for the Taj given it was one of the first to use white marble and was only built 4 years before Mumtaz Mahal died. It was a lot quieter than the complex, but took a while to get there given it was on the other side of the river and on the other side of Agra Fort.

As with the Taj, there's a grand gate before the complex. And it is surrounded by 3 buildings on the other sides.





















The view on the other side of the river.







OK now I forgot to mention I decided to just get a tuk tuk here from the Taj and insisted I pay up front. They said they'd wait for me outside and they did. I first went to get a drink on the other side of the road and was 'poached' by another. So just hopped into their tuk tuk. Ah well, tough luck, eh? Well no...those drivers actually chased us for a bit and were yelling at us in Hindi. Got back to the hotel safe and sound in the end. Within 5 minutes of getting back, I got a knock on the door with my gift for being a mid-tier IHG member, just a couple of chocolates. Then I got butter chicken for dinner. Was expensive for India, about A$10, but probably only a third of the price it'd cost at an equivalent hotel in Australia.