Singaporean cyclist rides solo across SEA in 101 days, experiences both warm hospitality and brutal terrain
In the rat race that is adult life in Singapore, many of us have probably fantasised about dropping everything and running off to see the world instead.
For one woman, she decided to turn this pipe dream into a reality.
At 35 years old, she took a break from her career, hopped on a bicycle, and embarked on a 101-day trip across mainland Southeast Asia (SEA).
Image courtesy of Wing
Along the way, she saw gorgeous sights, broke personal records, and experienced local hospitality on a level she never expected.
Singaporean cyclist takes SEA bicycle trip, enters five countries
36-year-old Puah Hui Ying, better known as ‘Wing’, decided to act on her dream of a bicycle tour back in late 2025.
She chose to take one-year career break as she was pivoting from her tech job at the time, and had enough savings to cover for the gap year.
Image by MS News
She cycled into Malaysia near the end of September, and travelled through to Thailand, then a short plane ride to India to attend a wedding.
Going back through Laos, she ended her trip in Vietnam in early January, after 101 days.
While it may seem like a long time, Wing did not intend her bike tour to be a challenge of how quickly she could cross mainland SEA.
Instead, her bicycle was merely a vehicle for her real purpose.
SEA bicycle trip was a way to deeply experience the countries
“I really enjoy trying to understand a country. So it’s not really just passing by, like, just ticking a checklist,” she told MS News.
Source: Wing Outdoor on YouTube
Once, Wing passed through Johor into Malacca, where locals recommended that she visit Gunung Ledang. She thus cycled back to Johor to do so.
“Honestly, I wouldn’t say anything is a detour, because everything is not planned,” she said.
In Thailand, she visited the Thailand-Burma Railway Centre, a museum about the infamous ‘Death Railway’ built by slaves under the orders of Imperial Japan.
Source: Wing Outdoor on YouTube
While in Laos, Wing learned about the heavy bombing the country experienced during the Vietnam War.
She described Laos as a country where so much of the past was still around, in the form of unexploded bombs buried just beneath the surface and people with lingering wounds. Wing said:
I wouldn’t have expected that, [the trip] just took a turn towards it.
Source: Wing Outdoor on YouTube
Accepted offer to stay in stranger’s home in Malacca
Wing found that Malaysia was the country that resonated the most with her, owing to the lack of a language barrier.
When she was in Malacca, she intended to sleep at a campsite with the camping gear she brought along.
However, the owner of a Nitro Brew shop she was chatting with offered her to stay at his home instead.
“I was like, okay should I trust a stranger that I met along the road and go to his place?” she laughed as she recounted the story.
Wing ultimately agreed. She described his house as both beautiful and historical, with a story behind every corner.
Her host and his girlfriend housed her for several days. They even brought her around Malacca to help her find the supplies she needed for her trip.
Image courtesy of Wing
Wing still keeps in contact with the couple on social media.
Locals gave her money and guided her when lost
While cycling on the road in Malaysia, Wing met a motorcyclist who passed her 4 MYR (S$1.30) and told her to buy a drink for herself.
This wouldn’t be the first and only time that she would experience acts of kindness.
Image courtesy of Wing
“Something that I [didn’t] expect is how people on the road kept helping me,” Wing told MS News.
All across SEA, the locals showed exceptional friendliness. When she got lost, locals on motorcycles would lead her to where she wanted to go.
When she burst a tyre on the roadside in Vietnam, a motorist stopped to personally help her change it.
Image courtesy of Wing
With the Warmshowers app, she could easily find people ready to host her for several nights.
Wing’s bicycle was loaded with 30 to 40kg of equipment, which included camping gear. The trip taught her a lesson: accommodation was so easy to find that she could just not bring the extra weight in the first place.
She also brought cooking gear, but found that SEA had an utter abundance of good food everywhere she went.
Image courtesy of Wing
Damaged bicycle and phone during crash in Malaysia
Of course, the trip was not without its hardships. In Malaysia, Wing crashed her bicycle hard enough to twist the handlebars sideways and crack her spare phone.
She initially panicked, with her main form of transport damaged while far from her destination, and no one around to help.
Source: Wing Outdoor on YouTube
Fighting off her fear, Wing eventually retraced her steps for about 30 minutes to an hour before she found a mechanic.
She also recounted her single bad experience with another person during the trip. While cycling through Laos, she encountered a motorcyclist who showed her a picture of a bed and pointed towards her.
Wing immediately refused, and the man awkwardly left.
Singaporean cyclist finds Laos to be most challenging part of SEA journey
Out of all the countries, she pointed to Laos as the most challenging to cycle through. The roads were dusty, filled with potholes, and frequently traversed by heavy trucks.
Image courtesy of Wing
Cycling uphill on steep mountainous terrain with up to 40kg of gear made her feel like dying.
Going downhill, on the other hand, felt legitimately dangerous. She said:
Even when you brake, it feels like you’re going to lose control very quickly, like a small rock could make you topple.
With even more mountainous terrain ahead, Wing decided to take a 24-hour bus to Vietnam in the interest of her own safety.
The tough experiences didn’t sour her view of the country.
“I actually love Laos a lot!” Wing said. She broke a personal record, cycling to an altitude of 1,400 metres for the first time.
Up there, she witnessed an incredibly beautiful sunrise.
Image courtesy of Wing
Wing also stayed at an inn, where she chatted with four Chinese men looking for mining opportunities, who paid for her meals.
When people see you’re travelling alone, they’ll be more hospitable to you and try to take care of you, especially if you’re female.
Met fellow Singaporean on train in Thailand
One of the best experiences of the trip ended up being a coincidental slice of home.
While getting her bicycle onto a train in Thailand, Wing encountered a Caucasian man who helped her out.
It turned out that his wife, who was on the train, was actually also a Singaporean. She stayed with the couple for three to four days in Hua Hin.
Source: Wing Outdoor on YouTube
“We did very Singaporean stuff. We just went café hopping,” Wing laughed as she recalled the experience.
During this time, the Singaporean woman told her the story of three bicycle tourists in the United States (US). Midway through, two of them fell very ill, asked themselves why they were doing this, and decided to stop the trip.
“They realised that you can have an initial idea of doing something, but after experiencing it, you recalibrate and try to understand your objective,” Wing said.
She did not yet know that she would experience the same lesson not too long later.
Broke ankle in three places during trip to Central Asia
After returning to Singapore, Wing felt a sense of emptiness despite enjoying her bicycle tour.
Image by MS News
Unlike in movies, the trip hadn’t granted her a whole new outlook in life before cutting to the credits.
She subsequently continued on her planned trip to Central Asia, but noticed that she wasn’t as excited as she expected to be.
“My body was in Central Asia, but my mind was already back in Singapore,” she said.
In a video, Wing revealed that her mind wandered to her future in Singapore even amidst the beauty of the landscape.
Before the trip could really get going, it ended in a broken ankle and Wing being hauled down a mountain in Kyrgyzstan by rescuers.
Source: Wing Outdoor on YouTube
She had to return to Singapore for surgery, and all her plans had to be halted for recovery.
Source: Wing Outdoor on YouTube
But, just like the American tourists she was told about back in Hua Hin, Wing realised that it was time to recalibrate and understand what she wanted to do.
Perhaps it was the hospitality of locals she experienced, but she realised she wanted her career to allow her to work closer with other people or clients.
Image by MS News
Wing said the career break and the trips gave her clarity on the next step in her life and lessons she could not have learned any other way. She said:
For that, this made it worth every single cent.
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Featured image courtesy of Wing.
