Solo foreign traveler missing for nearly a week after riding off from Sa Pa homestay

Detailed summary

Police in the northern Vietnamese mountain resort town Sa Pa are searching for a Kuwaiti tourist whose family has been unable to reach him since he rode off from his homestay on a motorbike on Saturday.

Sa Pa Ward police in Lao Cai Province said on Thursday afternoon that they were verifying information and searching for Khalid Aldawoud, 50, who lost contact while traveling in the area.

He left Green Sapa Homestay on a motorbike at around 10 a.m. on Saturday and has not returned since.

A representative of the homestay said Aldawoud had been staying there since late October, traveling alone, and had planned to stay until the end of November.

He greeted staff as usual before leaving that morning and did not say where he was going next, the representative said. He left all his belongings at the homestay, and the contact phone number he gave staff can no longer be reached.

A surveillance camera image shows Kuwaiti tourist Khalid Aldawoud riding a motorbike in Sa Pa. Photo courtesy of Sa Pa Ward police

Aldawoud is about 1.7 meters tall and lanky. When he left, he was wearing a thigh-length, long-sleeved orange-brown top, gray trousers and a green helmet with a visor. He often carries a tobacco pipe.

He was riding a red-and-black Yamaha PG-1 motorbike with license plate 25AA-526.78.

Police have asked accommodation providers, restaurants, tourist sites, residents and tourists in Sa Pa and neighboring areas to help with the search.

Anyone who spots a man or a motorbike matching the description is asked to contact Sa Pa Ward police at 0214 378 9999 or the nearest police station.

Opening of the article, excerpted from VnExpress International. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.