Mr. Tran Quoc Bao (36 years old, Lam Dong) and 8 friends went to Ladakh, a land in Jammu and Kashmir states, India in early May. This place possesses a pristine beauty with a sky-high green sky, white snow mountains and unique culture.
According to the original plan, after completing the schedule in Ladakh, the group will continue to Kashmir and return to Vietnam on May 14.
However, the members did not expect this trip to encounter a big incident. In the early morning of May 7, India airstrikes Pakistan.
In addition to strict border control in areas near the border, India has ordered the closure of 27 airports across the North, Northwest and Central regions of India until May 10 amid escalating tensions with Pakistan.
8 friends in his group Bao decided to return to Vietnam earlier than expected to fly to New Delhi city, other members chose to go by road. In fact, in this situation, this is the only solution to be able to go to New Delhi airport and return to Vietnam.
On May 8, 8 members shared to sit on 2 7-seat cars to Manali - the nearest city to Leh Ladakh. After a 15-hour journey, they continue to catch the bus back to New Delhi for another 15 hours to get to New Delhi airport.
Mr. Bao chose to stay alone because he did not think the incident would be so serious. He is still optimistic and will wait until May 10 for the airport in Leh to reopen. However, on May 10, he learned that the airport would continue to be closed until May 15.
Tourists were really worried and called their relatives in Vietnam to find a way to resolve the issue. Because the road from Leh to Manali is quite dangerous, many areas are landslides, slippery snow, and the group may even have to go through war areas. However, this is still the best option at the moment.
The male tourist said: "The car comes from 10pm on 10.5 and until 2am the next morning to stop at Manali. The most dangerous road is running through a snowy mountain area, the car fails.
Currently, Mr. Bao is on his way back to Vietnam and is expected to be at home on May 14 as originally scheduled. Although he was stuck for 2 days in a remote country amid escalating tensions, he always felt warm because of the friendliness of the people here as well as fulfilled his dream of admiring the beautiful natural scenery in India.
Because the trip was still unfinished and the group could not visit Kashmir, he told himself that it would be until the safety situation returned.
Ms. Cao Thi Thu Hien, representative of a unit specializing in adventure land tours in Ladakh, said that the tour groups of the unit have completed their schedules and returned home. However, to ensure the safety of customers, the unit will not welcome any more groups to India, and monitor the combat situation so that customers can choose solutions in the coming time.
Mr. Hoang The Hau, CEO of Dai Viet International Tourism Company, said: "Tours in the coming months to Pakistan have been suspended and deposits have been returned to tourists. We will take further consideration of the situation to provide the most optimal solution for our customers. Currently, we are not affected much because our partner on the Pakistan side also sympathizes with the war situation."
On May 13, India reopened 32 airports for civil aviation operations after a ceasefire with Pakistan.
The Civil Aviation Authority of India confirmed that 32 airports were ordered to close with civil aircraft operations until 05:30 on May 15, local time, and can now resume operations immediately.
Previously, the closure of dozens of airports seriously affected aviation services, causing more than 300 flights to be canceled each day.
This caused great damage to the tourism industry of many other countries such as the UAE, Turkey... due to disrupted aviation activities.
Tensions between India and Pakistan hit a heavy hit in the hotel industry in India, with more than 50% of bookings canceled and revenue expected to decrease by 40% in May.
