Enroute to Iceland: When Indian Female Traveler Met Pakistani Boys
A deal was finalized where the boys were responsible to drop her off at her respective destinations while she will be their tour guide
Karishma Shaikh, an Indian female solo traveler, who has explored more than 20 countries has written an article for a travel company named Tripoto sharing her experience while visiting Iceland and accidentally meeting three Pakistani boys in 2020.
Karishma explained how India and Pakistan have been controversial and how everything becomes a matter of pride, honor, and being better than neighbor.
Coming from such mindset had a huge impact on Karishma about the people of Pakistan, but everything changed when she took a trip to Iceland in 2020, which opened its gates to tourists amid pandemic and had travelers tested on arrival.
This was the time when most of the travelers have lost their sole purpose and were confined to travel between the kitchen and living room.
Karishma said, “the plan was set, I would hike the Icelandic highlands for four days and then hitch-hike through the country.”
How did the journey begin?
Soon after completing 60 kilometres through the Icelandic Highlands. Karishma reached a hostel in Reykjavik, where she met three Pakistani boys namely Rizwan, Zeeshan, and Baber.
A deal was finalized where the boys were responsible to drop her off at her respective destinations while she will be their tour guide.
Karishma had a mix of emotions where she was having second thoughts about how they would turn out as individuals to secretly hoping that the trip and exploration never comes to an end.
While recalling an event Karishma added, “I fell in love with the way they spoke, and suddenly my way of talking changed from ‘Abe tu kya khayega be’ to Aap kya khaoge?”
Shaikh said that the boys were very cooperative for booking a room for four upon asking as the routes were merged with them.
Female traveler added, “We crossed the entire southern ring road together, from Gull Foss to The diamond beach. From the most touristic places to the hidden waterfalls, we saw it all.”
Pakistani travelers and their obsessions
According to Karishma, Rizwan turned out to be Shahrukh Khan’s biggest fan as he posed like him at all the locations in Gerua and Zeeshan, who was an excellent storyteller and sketched his homeland beautifully.
View this post on Instagram
Whereas, Baber had taken the responsibility of taking an endless amount of snaps of Karishma.
Read Also
Mughal-Era Sethian Bridge in Peshawar Still Stands Intact
The Indian female traveler was introduced to some of the best qawwali collections and Coke Studio by Pakistani boys in Iceland.
She said, “I remember finding friends for life, friends beyond borders, friends beyond prejudices, and friends that are now a part of my life.”
While concluding the trip, Karishma expressed how difficult was it to continue the journey without the three and added, “I had an idea of Pakistan that was shattered in the car with these three incredible humans. In all the differences that were pointed out to me all my life, I realized we were so similar.”
12 Comments