Hanoi (VNA) – A Vietnamese traveler carried a national flag across all continents worldwide, completing a 1,000-nautical-mile journey to Truong Sa (Spratly) islands, and the carrier’s dream came true.
Tran Dang Dang Khoa, born in 1987 in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang, is a well-known backpacker travelling around the globe by motorbike. It took him two years of preparation to navigate some 80,000 kilometres. He has set foot in 65 countries and territories in Asia, Europe, South America, North America, Australia, Antarctica, and Africa.
The journey lasted 1,111 days starting June 1, 2017, and throughout the odyssey, he kept with him a special national flag. It was a gift a friend brought from the archipelago’s Phan Vinh island.
In May 2022, Khoa joined a working delegation to visit Truong Sa island district in the south central province of Khanh Hoa and DK1 platform.
Khoa said he was extremely lucky to be selected for the journey, as the destination is a place in Vietnam that he hoped to visit one day.
On the eventful evening of May 22 on the deck of Truong Sa 571 ship, the delegation joined a musical exchange. And Khoa, to the surprise and admiration of hundreds of passengers, volunteered to take the stage to talk about the journey back home with his special red flag.
“After traveling through all continents in the world, finally today, I will arrive at Truong Sa, carrying the flag back to its original starting point. Bringing it here makes me feel very nervous, happy, honored and proud,” Khoa confided.
He said he hopes youth will keep faith in reaching their dreams despite difficulties.
“And if you have the opportunity, please visit Truong Sa and the DK1 platform – the sacred sea, island and territorial waters of our nation – to feel the soldiers’ iron oath to safeguard the island’s sovereignty and to understand what we should do to be worthy of their efforts to preserve and protect the peace of our country”, he concluded./.