The Middle East war broke out on February 28, when Mr. Trinh Duc (26 years old, Hanoi) was on his way to Barcelona, Spain. The journey was suddenly interrupted. Originally, this was a business trip combined with European tourism, Mr. Duc had an unimaginable experience when stuck in the Middle East.
On February 28, Trinh Duc flew from Vietnam to Doha, Qatar to connect to Spain. However, the plane had to divert to land in the capital Muscat, Oman to wait for information.
After 6 hours of waiting on the plane, passengers were allowed to enter the airport. Mr. Duc continued to queue for 5 hours to complete entry procedures and took more time to get to the temporary accommodation hotel. For the Vietnamese male tourist, this trip was really very long and tiring.
During the time stuck in a foreign land, Mr. Duc found new friends. Fearing that the initial plan would collapse and also because the Middle East war situation escalated, he found a little joy here.
In 5 hours of staying up all night waiting to enter Oman, I met fellow countrymen again. Meeting each other, we shared fears with each other like the characters who had to form a survival group in the movie'Alice in Borderland' I watched on the plane. 4 Vietnamese people flew to 4 countries (Spain, Sweden, Italy, Netherlands) unexpectedly met each other here," he said.
Vietnam does not have an embassy in Oman, so Mr. Duc called other embassies here to ask about the war situation and learned that Oman is a fairly safe neutral country.
The hotel where he temporarily stayed, arranged by the airline, is quite close to the sea. During the tense war days in the Middle East, many tourists are vacationing in Muscat. Life is not disturbed.
Mr. Duc shared: "I was very surprised because the people of Oman are extremely friendly. Because the suitcases were registered at the company, we did not have clothes to wear. The whole group decided to go to the shopping area about 1km from the hotel. Before getting on the taxi, we asked the driver if he could pay by credit card for force majeure reasons, but he agreed to take us for free.
Surprised by the driver's reaction, Mr. Duc gave this kind Oman man a Vietnamese dong as a souvenir. Returning to the hotel in the afternoon, the driver was still very comfortable without asking to pay in advance, the group gave the driver a 5 euro bill.
On the evening of March 2nd, the male tourist said that from the hotel balcony, he had the opportunity to watch fireworks in the Oman sky, right on the occasion of the Muslim Ramanda month. During the day, there were few people on the road because it was the vegetarian month, but in the evening, the atmosphere was much more lively.
By March 3rd, he had regained his suitcase. It is expected that on March 6th, the male tourist will fly back to Vietnam. Before the failed plan, Mr. Duc only regretted the ticket to watch his favorite team at Camp Nou stadium. He hopes he will have the opportunity to go to Spain in the future.
The male tourist confided: "I feel I am still luckier than many people. Many people have to wait at the airport for 2 days, some are only booked hotels by the airline until March 2nd, then have to take care of themselves. Luckily, being in Muscat is still safe. At times like this, I see precious peace, I love Vietnam".
