Muskaan, a Pakistani travel vlogger based in Germany, has promised that India will be her first destination after she receives her German passport.
A Pakistani travel vlogger living in Germany has drawn warm reactions from Indian users online after speaking about a trip she has wanted to make for years. Muskaan, who posts as @muskaan.travels on Instagram, has already visited more than 20 countries, but India still sits at the top of her list.
The reason she gives is personal. In a recent Instagram Reel, she said India would be the first place she flies to the moment her German passport comes through. In another clip she put it plainly, saying that while she is Pakistani, her heart belongs to Delhi.
Her wish to see the country is not a passing idea. Many of the places on her list have been in her head since childhood, formed while watching Bollywood films and imagining what those locations would be like in person.
In her video, she goes through the experiences she hopes to have on that first visit. Photographs at well known spots are not the aim. She wants to take in the culture, the spirituality, the festivals and the landscapes.
Her list moves across the country, with each stop offering something different.
Sunrise at the Taj Mahal in Agra sits near the top. Seeing the white marble up close in early morning light is something she has wanted to experience for a long time.
The Lotus Temple in Delhi carries deeper meaning for her. As a follower of the Bahá’í faith, she hopes to spend quiet, reflective time there. For her it is a personal dream rather than another sightseeing stop.
She is also keen to watch the evening Ganga Aarti in Varanasi, ideally from a boat on the water, with the lamps, the chanting and the temple bells carrying across the ghats.
Rishikesh made the cut for its yoga retreats, meditation and calm atmosphere along the Ganga, offering the kind of peaceful reset she is looking forward to.
Holi is on the list as well. She wants to be in the middle of the celebration rather than watching it on a screen, colours, music and chaos included.
Her plans stretch northeast to the Hornbill Festival in Nagaland, which showcases tribal heritage through music, dance, food and crafts, a side of India many foreign travellers skip.
The living root bridges of Meghalaya fascinated her, grown over decades by guiding the roots of rubber fig trees across rivers. She wondered aloud how something like that could exist.
She also dreams of a night camping in the Thar Desert near Jaisalmer, sleeping under open sky among the dunes.