Duo's solo bikepacking trips end in friendship in China

Strangers at first, fellow S'poreans linked up while taking different routes through S-E Asia

- Rhea Yasmine

As he set off from Tampines in February on a bicycle trip that was going to take him across six countries, the last person Mr Ramadhan Rajab thought he would meet after thousands of kilometres of travel was another Singaporean pedalling on two wheels.

But this became reality when Mr Ramadhan, 27, met Mr Chong Lezhen, 28, on the 124th day of his journey, after travelling some 5,090km.

The two Singaporeans had embarked on separate “bikepacking” trips almost a month apart – Mr Ramadhan on Feb 17 and Mr Chong on March 10 – and had taken different routes across parts of South-east Asia.

Bikepacking, a combination of cycling and backpacking, involves travelling long distances over several days on a bicycle.

The two Singaporeans first communicated in May, when Mr Chong reached out on Instagram and shared that he was on a similar trip.

Mr Ramadhan documents his bikepacking adventures on Instagram and now has more than 57,000 followers on the platform. He had fewer than 300 at the start of his trip.

Mr Chong told The Straits Times: “We randomly texted each other from time to time to ask about bike stuff... I didn’t think I was going to meet him.”

They later learnt that they were both headed to China and agreed to meet up on June 20 in Yuanjiang county in Yunnan’s Yuxi city.

Despite starting out as strangers, the duo spent the final days of their trip cycling around southern Yunnan and visiting cafes together.

Mr Ramadhan then flew back to Singapore on July 3, while Mr Chong will make his trip back on July 6.

“It has been nice to... use Singlish with another Singaporean,” said Mr Chong.