Original subtitles

LIGHTNING CRACKS

Oh, my God.

Flash flood or what? Oh, my days.

I've already been for a swim today, I don't need another.

At the third checkpoint in the race across Southeast Asia...

Oh, God, me bones.

...it's the end of the Cambodian national holiday,

Pchum Ben,

Ancestors' Day...

This offering is for my family.

And for my father

who I lost two years ago.

...a chance for teams to receive a blessing

and pay their respects to lost loved ones.

I think he'd be very proud of me

and of his granddaughter, as well.

The challenges have been there.

But, for me, the major part of this

is spending time with Isabel.

It is our journey together. Yeah.

I'd like to dedicate it to our whole group, I think,

just to keep safe and healthy throughout their whole journey.

We're just thankful, actually, and proud of ourselves for staying in.

It was quite nice to have a bit of a good luck offering.

I think we could all probably use it.

Take all the help we can get, won't we?

I'd like to do it to my nan who passed away last year.

And then I'd like to bless my mum who passed away 15 years ago.

Sam.

Satu. Satu.

Satu. Yes, very good.

Everything that I do I strive with her in mind.

She would want me to enjoy every minute.

I just hope that she's given us some good karma

going forward in the race.

After the elimination of Brydie and Sharon in the last leg,

four teams now remain.

New leaders Alfie and Owen...

So this is for you.

Thank you. Ah, so, thank you.

Thank you.

...are the first team to learn the location of the fourth checkpoint.

Mae Sariang.

BOTH: "My" Sariang.

Not a clue. No, not a scoobie. No idea.

Need to find this place.

Excuse me, guys,

we're in a race and we need to go to this location.

ls there any way you could help us out? Yeah.

Oh, my God, is that Burma?

Oh, it's next to Burma.

Thailand, I think. It is in Thailand. It is Thailand. OK.

Thailand, one of the most visited countries in the world.

But on this leg

the teams will be heading to one of its most unexplored regions.

1,400 kilometres away

in the Shan Highlands that straddle the Thai-Myanmar border...

...lies the fourth checkpoint,

the quiet mountain town of Mae Sariang.

I mean, I don't know about you

but Thailand's always been on my bucket list.

A lot of people I know have been to Thailand and have just

absolutely raved about it, so I'm so excited

to see what it has to offer.

Especially animals.

Animals, food... There's so much biodiversity. ..the beaches.

And I think we're going to be going into like an untapped paradise.

Yeah, I hope so.

First, before leaving Cambodia,

teams must circumnavigate

the largest body of fresh water

in Southeast Asia -

Tonle Sap Lake.

Heading to the lake's west offers fast roads to the border

and into central Thailand...

...with ancient settlements on the journey northwards,

engulfed by mountains and jungle.

To the east lies Siem Reap,

gateway to the tourist hot spot of Angkor Wat.

From there, it's a journey back in time

through Thailand's rural eastern provinces,

rarely travelled by backpackers.

So let's just get a plan then.

I'd rather do more of Thailand just cos I haven't been there.

So would I. Cos I haven't been there.

Like, Thailand is so much more appealing to me.

So you're quite happy to kind of...

Hit Thailand hard. Hit Thailand and have more... Yeah.

..more time there. I'm with that.

Like, let's see some elephants and some tigers.

Yeah. And stuff like that.

So I think we're in agreement.

Central over... Eastern.

You drive us?

Er, night market?

To maximise their time in Thailand

the boys plan to head

straight to the border at Poipet

and from there, strike out into the heart of the country

in search of its wildlife.

First time it's an opportunity for me to take Owen's approach

of properly stepping back and looking around.

There's still a burning desire to win

but this really is an opportunity to win in other ways.

WHISTLE TOOTS

Look, Phnom Penh to Poipet.

Ah, Poipet.

Perfect.

We need a bus to Poipet. Poipet?

Today?

9 o'clock, please. 9pm.

Unbelievable.

We'll be in Thailand tomorrow. Yeah, I know. It'd be great.

Everything's falling into place.

Alfie's mood has changed slightly.

You know, before, he was very race, race, race,

but I feel like now we're in a good position.

Elimination is over.

And we've come first for the first time,

he's kind of a bit more inclined to just enjoy it.

When it's like that, you know, it makes me happier

and it makes him happier so it makes a big difference.

I just want to get ahead of the boys.

Cos we want to come in first place this time.

Setting off an hour-and-a-half after Owen and Alfie...

Oh, look, there's a boat over there.

This is a lot cheaper than the tuk-tuk, Mum.

Cheaper than a tuk-tuk.

...former leaders Isabel and Eugenie...

We need to work on our communication.

Yeah, but we're going to try and do it differently this time.

Rather than travelling through,

we want to stop a lot more and just enjoy what's around us.

We need to be able to connect

and be more open with one another going forward. Yeah.

Hoping to make the most of their remaining time in Cambodia,

Eugenie and Isabel plan to make an early stop

on the banks of the Tonle Sap.

What's that big bird up there?

What is that? It's like a toucon.

It's called a "toucan" not a "toucon".

Why are you laughing?

You called it a "toucon". THEY LAUGH

Market. Nicht market.

I might get that.

Well, I'll get whatever you get.

Thank you. Thank you.

OK, we lost the map and we're buying ice cream every day

and we're still first. Unbelievable.

Oh, is this our bus? Ha-ha.

Oh, it's nice. Oh, I think we're in luck.

Which one do we get on? just either?

One bed, two person.

I think we share one, mate. We share one?

Oh, God.

Well, this is going to be hell.

I was feeling pretty happy when the bus pulled up,

I was like, "OK, great. The bed's pretty big."

Then we realised we've got to share.

Don't put your feet there. Thanks.

OK. This is definitely the worst bus we've been on so far.

It's a bit cramped. But we're making significant progress.

Oh, yay! Uh, I'm quite happy to make the sacrifice.

It smells of feet.

Well, it's probably just MY feet...

Hmm! Did you just hit your head? MURMURING: No, I hit my elbow.

Do you know where this is? Mae Sariang?

This is Thailand.

Yay! OK.

Nine hours behind the race leaders...

Let's mark it on the map.

Quickly, we're in a race.

Thank you very much for your help. Thank you so much. Take care.

Thank you. We're going Thailand, baby.

...with the smallest budget of the remaining teams,

on the last few legs, every penny will count for Betty and James.

Splash the cash on a premium night bus again.

Yeah, exactly.

But, yeah, first things first. A bus station.

According to the map, Battambang's sort of close to the border,

we think, isn't it? So head into Battambang.

Following in the footsteps of the teams ahead,

the siblings are also taking the road towards central Thailand

aiming to reach the city of Battambang tonight.

Come on. I feel like Thailand's going to be good for us.

Yeah, we're not there yet.

BOTH: Station?

Two, please, $2? $2. OK.

Thank you very much.

Oh, my God! What? What? Oh, no, wait.

Stop, stop, stop, stop. Wait, wait, wait, wait.

He's put his money belt off.

Where is it? I put it... You put it on the ground.

I had it on my arm. Argh!

Sorry.

So, when we were looking through the map,

James took his money belt off.

But it had our only Cambodian money in it.

He also has hold of his own passport.

Oh, my God!

Thank you so much. Cheers, guys.

OK, let's go back.

Think he's got it?

I think he's got it.

Saved my blushes.

Might need some new boxers, though.

Oh, no.

Oh!

BLEEP.

Shit.

BLEEP stupid!

So if he loses his passport, we're out.

Can't get into Thailand.

You OK? Is it empty?

Sorry. What's happened? Sorry. What's happened? Sorry.

No, no, what's happened?

The money's gone.

There was only my passport in here.

There was 100,000 Cambodian

and that was the last Cambodian money we have.

Oh, so I was shitting about your passport so...

Oh, sorry.

Don't be stupid.

If anything was to go wrong,

we are the family that kind of bury things.

Don't get upset or emotional with each other.

We do just kind of get up and get on with it.

Right, we're doing this.

If you want, yeah.

I still trust you.

But particularly James and I, with each other,

we are closed books.

Oh. You OK? Yeah.

What's up?

Cos of the money? Yeah.

It's all right.

James SNIFFLES

It's about the first time I actually feel emotional.

It was just stupid error.

I'm really thankful for Betty.

Yeah, she's done really well for me, but it was a bit shit, to be honest.

Any buses going tonight?

This is going to Siem Reap.

ls there spaces on this bus?

Yeah, they have space. Are you sure you want to go there?

Otherwise we have to pay for accommodation.

And then get the bus. Yeah, that's true, yeah, yeah.

OK. OK, yeah. Yeah. To Siem Reap? Yeah.

Two, please, yeah. It's going to be OK.

After their near miss, the siblings change plans.

Unlike the other teams, they're now heading east of Tonle Sap

to Cambodia's cultural capital, Siem Reap.

We're on the move.

just like the worst possible start.

Not the end of the world.

We'll just go and make the most of Siem Reap.

Hurry up. Stephen!

The last team to leave Phnom Penh...

Trousers are falling down.

...Viv and Stephen are playing catch-up.

If we can make decisions faster, pick our route

and stick to it,

then, you know, we could soon be up with the winners.

A good connection... Hmm.

...can be the making or breaking of this next leg.

Hmm.

This is a bus station. This is the bus station?

Oh, bus station.

This is the bus station? Yeah, yeah. Yeah?

It's a minibus station.

Ah, minibus.

Oh, hello! I thought this was selling drinks.

A little table on the side of the road.

Well, we want to go to...

Poipet. ..Poipet. Or Battambang.

Keep thinking Battenberg, you know. Yeah.

Which is fastest? We're in a race.

Looking to close the gap, Viv and Stephen are on the road

for the next five hours to get as close as possible

to the Thai border.

So, follow her.

If it hits us, hit her first.

We're on their tails.

300km north...

...over 2 million people flock to the city of Siem Reap

every year in order to visit Angkor Wat.

Spread across 400 acres,

it's the world's largest religious monument.

But after making a last-minute decision to head this way...

This is the famous pub street.

Looks like an actual strip.

...Betty and James have their eyes on more earthly pleasures.

This is the beer after you think

everything's going to go horribly wrong.

"Oh, my God, have I lost my money? Have I lost my passport?"

Bless ya.

Time to treat ourselves a little bit, haven't we?

Ooh, baby!

We need to sort of find out where we're going to head tomorrow.

The O Smach border's actually pretty close to here.

OK.

After their setback in Phnom Penh,

they're heading towards Thailand's rural lsan region,

the least visited part of the country.

Last night was very chaotic,

we've already changed our plan, like, a few hours in.

We've kind of taken a risk going quite far out

off the tourist trail,

but that's OK, like, I genuinely think that

this'll work out for the better.

150km north west of Siem Reap...

I've got a feeling me and you are going to fall in love with Thailand.

This might be the longest leg we have.

..0wen and Alfie are the first team to enter the fifth country

of the race,

the most popular destination in Southeast Asia -

Thailand.

A heady blend of vibrant Buddhist culture

alongside pristine and stunning natural beauty,

the Land Of Smiles boasts over 40,000 temples...

...and a tenth of the world's animal species.

So we're here in Thailand. PARROT SQUAWKS

I hear a parrot.

There's three of them up there. Four. They're quite cool.

We have heard about an incredible opportunity tomorrow

to go to a wildlife park. Hmm.

BOTH: Pak Chong.

Apparently, it's very close to Pak Chong

so that's why we really want to get there. Khao Yai?

We've just got no idea where it is.

Ticket. Ticket. For bus?

Uh, Pak Chong.

Pak Chong.

Pak Chong. Yeah, yeah.

Not really.

I don't know what you're saying, mate, sorry.

Follow.

Follow, yeah? Thank you. Thank you.

Apparently, this man's taking us to where the bus picks us up

or something, I'm not really sure what's going on.

It comes here?

Here. At 6 o'clock?

Thank you so much. Thank you.

OK, right, I don't know what's going on.

I have a weird amount of confidence in this.

When I feel like, I feel like

I shouldn't be confident in it, but I am.

Wow! This is a huge community.

Oh, this is cool.

Oh, a school, look!

Is that a school? Yeah.

At the western shore of the Tonle Sap...

Oh, this is going to be wicked.

Health centre. I'm just getting it now, it's a village on the water.

Yeah.

...Kampong Luong is one of 170 floating villages

sustained by the lake...

You've got a bit of everything.

...its rich fishing grounds amongst the most productive in the world.

Oh, my gosh, that is deep.

For decades, the villages were closed communities,

but now a few locals welcome visitors.

Hello.

And this evening, Eugenie and Isabel

are guests of Pensok Hon and her family.

We're doing a home stay.

I'm hoping we'll have the time to talk a bit more.

Fa f?

And just enjoying what's around us.

What's that? It's a bit of wood.

Isabel sometimes says to me that,

"Mum, you don't know me as an adult."

So this is a time for me

to get to know the Isabel that she wants me to know.

No? He's laughing even more.

I give up, I will not be laughed at.

Siamese mud carp, a small freshwater fish

is caught to make a spicy fermented paste called "prahok"...

...the basis for many Cambodian dishes...

Oh, do I hate cleaning fish.

...still prepared in the traditional way.

Hmm, this looks delicious.

That grin on your face is ridiculous.

Oh, this smells amazing.

Oh, it's peanuts.

What I see is community and family.

Which, in some ways, we've lost in England.

Then you see this...

...yeah, it's amazing.

Thank you, thank you.

00h. SPICY-

Hello.

Do you think this is how they have dinner every night?

Yeah.

I feel like it would be quite nice to eat together a bit more often.

When you were younger, we all used to sit round the table and eat.

You've got to take into consideration

that people are doing their own things now.

I know, but it just sounds like

you're coming up with excuses, though. Still doesn't mean you...

Not excuses, everybody's doing their own thing.

OK, OK.

I tried, I did try. Did you, though?

No, I didn't try.

Oh, look, the kids, they're all ready for bed.

I think it's typical.

Even when things are going great,

there's a negative spin that she'll add to it

and, uh, I just have to ignore it.

Right, I'm done.

140km north-east...

...Stephen and Viv have reached Battambang.

What's all the engraving about? Yeah. What's that?

The history of the Buddha.

I always thought Buddha was a fat guy, you know.

Tuk-tuk driverjud has brought them to the outskirts

of the city to show them the Phnom Sampov Caves.

Oh, look, a bat. Oh! Oh!

Wow, look!

BATS SCREECH

Well, I never.

Every evening, for around 20 minutes,

6 million bats disperse from the cave...

...to feed on insects in the surrounding rice paddies.

Still pouring out.

I know, they are.

It's one of those wonders of nature. Yeah.

You can see them swarming around.

Yeah.

Oh.

What was the killing cave for?

Pol Pot, if I remember, wasn't it?

How many people in the cave?

And their skeletons are still there? Yeah.

The whole family? Yeah.

Did they kill children, as well? Yeah. jeez.

Wow.

Scary, isn't it? Yeah.

Less than 50 years ago, the genocide of its own people

by the ruling Khmer Rouge decimated an entire generation of Cambodians.

An event that still reverberates today

as almost a third of the nation's population

is aged 14 years or under.

He was killed by it? Oh, gosh. Yeah.

Good grief.

It's just abhorrent, it really is.

And he made it personal.

The awe of nature on one side

and the dismal history of humanity on the other.

It's horrifying!

I just can't get my head round why.

For one of every bat that we saw, a person died,

is, is terrifying, really.

Thank you, madam.

Thank you. Yeah, yeah. So, so touched. Thank you.

Right, so, Thailand, we need to get going, really, and head north.

Got to chase distance. Yeah.

I haven't seen a single bus.

Less than 4km into Thailand...

Is this one pulling over?

No.

Hoping to reach Khao Yai Park by the morning,

Owen and Alfie are still waiting for a bus to Pak Chong.

I'm losing hope.

I mean... I was confident, now I'm not.

Might not even exist.

I see a bus. Ah, the bus!

Ah, it looks like a bouncy castle.

Pak Chong? Pak Chong?

INDISTINCT CHATTER

That's your bread and butter.

Yeah, I feel like I have a quite good sense of direction.

Yeah. it just makes sense in my head.

The bus goes to Pak Chong, it's official.

It does, does it?

I don't know.

I couldn't even tell you which way north is.

I know it's... I know it's up.

Well, there's actually two kind of norths.

Oh, here we go, here we go. I'll leave that for another time.

Yeah.

Change bus...

He's saying to change bus at some point.

We need to find out.

Hello, how do we get to Pak Chong?

Uh, change bus to Pak Chong.

So, uh, where do we stop?

Stop Nakhon Ratchasima.

Nakalam? Nakhon Ratchasima.

So we get off when, when this bus finishes? Yeah.

Do you know how long that is? No. You can ask.

There's actually zero chance we're getting to Pak Chong tonight.

But, ultimately, it was the only bus that we knew of that was leaving.

Oh, this is painful.

GEARS CRUNCH

Oh, no. Oh, no.

He's gone for second gear and it hasn't worked.

Mate, just stay in first, please.

What is that?

Ooh.

Ooh.

Oh, my gosh.

It needs to go.

Ah. Ooh.

She's just put it up there on the wall.

Want to aim to get to Poipet, the border. Hmm.

What have I done wrong now?

Didn't say you've done anything wrong, I'm listening.

It's fine.

When we were talking about having dinner together,

I think she took offence to that.

And just almost saw me as blaming her.

But it wasn't a blame game or anything.

We just don't put enough effort any more in as a family.

Thank you.

ISABEL SPEAKS THAI

Bye.

I don't think you understand how you're being this morning.

I'm not going to say anything any more, OK?

I don't know where we are.

Uh, do you speak English? Yes.

Um... Where are we?

Uh. A city of Nakhon Ratchasima.

Doesn't ring a bell.

You are here.

We just went in the complete wrong direction.

Thailand's massive. It is pretty big, isn't it?

We need to get moving.

For God's sake.

It's probably going to be about three hours on a bus

so it's not ideal, it's frustrating.

We just want to get there, see the wildlife today.

After realising they shot north of Pak Chong last night,

Owen and Alfie get back on track

by circling round to reach their intended goal.

Where's the visitor centre?

14km from here.

14km? Yeah.

14km is a long bloody way.

Massive.

Yeah, no, I did not expect this. No.

I mean, it is a national park, it's not like a zoo, is it?

You never know, you might get, like, attacked by an elephant.

This is the sort of Thailand I was kind of picturing...

Oh, yeah. Very, like, rural countryside.

This'll be worth it.

Over 2,000 square kilometres

of untouched jungle,

grasslands, rivers and mountains,

Khao Yai Park is a protected haven

for a menagerie of Southeast-Asian wildlife.

Today, we've definitely taken a step away from the racing aspect

of this trip and definitely gone more towards

the experience side of it.

We've booked onto a sort of mini safari

when it gets dark tonight, so that'll be really cool.

Hello.

Alfie's been really enthusiastic about being here camping

and not worrying too much about the race

although I assume that won't last too long.

Did it just snap? It did.

It's just nice to be able to stop,

be excited about the fact that we're in Thailand.

It's one of my favourite countries on Earth.

just to be here is incredible.

Where are we?

The only team to cross into Thailand to the east...

We're here? Well, we don't know.

Huh? Don't know, really, do I?

...Betty and James are leaving the tourist trail behind for good.

Oh, my, look at that light.

BLEEP these flies.

There's so many of 'em.

We're going to get bitten to death here.

But welcome to Thailand, eh?

Literally, no-man's-land.

Oh.

Being absolutely bitten.

What's that thing there?

This doesn't look cheap. No, it doesn't.

I think we should probably do a bit of a cash count.

Been a while.

I don't think either of us are particularly money smart.

Savvy. Savvy.

Not sure what this is.

I feel like since I've got a house, I've had to be...

Here we go.

I've definitely become better with my money, I would say.

500 and what, 70?

Yeah, you can definitely have the money responsibility

if it makes you feel powerful.

Wait, we've spent, what? Got about 938 quid.

With more than half of the race still to run,

the siblings have barely a third of their budget remaining.

It's not very much. Um...

Say, we're halfway.

Not even halfway.

We've spent a lot of money.

I think, if there wasn't the opportunity to

work on the legs, like, we'd be screwed.

We don't have Mum and Dad now to just be like,

"Can you just send me over an extra tenner?"

And I think, to be honest, this leg, when we kind of know

it's the unbeaten path and we still decide to take it,

is that a bigger risk?

Yes, but I'm hoping people are going to help us

and want to help us.

It's just kind of seeing stuff that you

wouldn't get to see normally would be nice.

I just want to see anything, really, an elephant would be pretty cool.

With many of the animals in Khao Yai Park nocturnal...

Oh, shit.

Look at the size of them!

...the best way to see them is a night safari.

Deer.

We've paid 600 baht to look at a...

To look at a really spiky hedgehog and five deer.

We're only, like, halfway through.

Like, you can't expect to see elephants

and tigers all the way round, so...

Ooh.

What have we got?

Fox.

Another British garden animal.

I'm not hopeful about seeing an elephant or anything.

No way!

What the BLEEP!

Oh, my God! Yes.

Oh, my God!

There's a baby one as well, there's three.

Bro, if he doesn't stop now...

Well, stop!

Stop the vehicle!

What?

Oh, he's pulling over, fair enough.

Oh!

I'm surprised how small they are.

Did you expect them to be bigger?

They might not be fully grown, I don't know.

I thought, I thought it'd be, I thought it'd be way bigger.

20, 40... Hurry up, Stephen, they said, "Lampong", quick!

Yes, I'm coming, I'm coming, I'm coming, I'm coming.

She's keen this morning.

Think she's on steroids for some reason.

Having crossed the border yesterday...

Come on, they're calling the bus!

I'm... I can't rush this bit.

God.

...Viv and Stephen are looking to push further into Thailand -

620km north to the city of Lampang

where they plan to pick up some work.

Quick, quick!

HE GRUNTS

Feel like a bloody penguin waddling.

We want to go to Lampang, Lampang?

For two, please, yes. Two old people.

Old people. Old people, discount.

No.

Worth a try.

What time does it get to Lampang?

Ten hours' drive.

Ten-hour drive?! Ten hours?!

Oh, my goodness! Gosh.

The distances are just so vast, aren't they?

The negative is that we're not going to get there

in time to do some work today.

Oh.

What better way to spend a birthday

than sitting on a bus for ten hours?

Exactly.

With your loved-one, might I just add that in there.

Exactly. Oh. just the bonus that I'm with you.

I'm going to be a senior citizen, 66, halfway through the race.

Oh, I get a better view now I can see out the window.

HE LAUGHS

When I was younger, senior citizens to me, they looked old

and they didn't usually live long after retirement age.

Two kiddies in a play park.

I mean, yeah, I, I'm old, but I don't feel old.

Hmm, are we there yet?

Are we there yet?

I mean, there's people at the tennis club playing at 82 years of age

so I've got a long way to go yet.

You got a card for me? Yeah, a little birthday card.

Have you really? I've lost it, it's a bit battered.

It's not from me.

"We're all thinking of you and rooting for you. Happy Birthday."

Ah, isn't that lovely?

There is life after your pension

and it's the biggest adventure ever.

I'm actually looking forward to the job, you know.

Well, it says it's romantic.

Yeah, but one person's romance is not an0ther's.

Think it's 200m down.

Oh, my days! OK.

Unable to tear himself away from Khao Yai Park just yet...

Oh. Wow.

That looks pretty cool.

..0wen has tracked down the Haew Suwat falls,

a 25m-high curtain of water.

Waterfalls are definitely one of my favourite parts of nature,

I don't know, there's just something about them.

I can just sit there and stare into it and think for ages.

It's really important, especially on this trip.

There's so much madness, there's so much chaos going on.

But every now and again, just sitting down and stopping

and just letting my mind wander is what I need.

Three or four years ago, I wouldn't have been able to do this.

When I was younger, I just didn't like who I was.

What kind of triggered it was the transition from, like, primary

to secondary school, I don't know, I feel like that just brought up

some emotion in me that I couldn't shift, you know?

I was just worried about everything.

I was kind of at my lowest

and the main kind of support I had was my parents.

You know, they were always there, always worrying for me

and that made me feel even worse sometimes

cos I knew they were there, but I hate seeing my parents...

HE SOBS

You good?

I'm fine until I talk about it.

Throughout school, when I was having my struggles,

Alfie supported me in so many ways.

He would always listen to me,

he'd always give me a different perspective.

We'd just do something together.

And it would take my mind off it and he knew that.

I think he's a product of his parents.

They've done an unbelievable job

and that's what I aspire to be

because high-level parenting provides people like Owen

and that's what the world needs.

I'm all for progressing as much as we can and trying to win.

But I know I'll get home and regret it

if we just blast through it all

and don't just take a minute like we are now.

So, obviously, we want to head north to get onto checkpoint.

Khon Kaen is quite a heavy transport hub.

Central point.

So if we can just get there,

and then onwards travel to the white water rafting.

The boys' Thai adventure is not over.

Hatching a plan to go white water rafting tomorrow,

Owen and Alfie are headed north-east to the city of Khon Kaen...

..80km west of Khao Yai Park...

It looks like the driver's ready to go.

After taking time out in Cambodia...

Could I have a sausage, please? One. This one.

...Eugenie and Isabel are the last team into Thailand...

Mum.

Can you try and eat it now, not in the car?

...and are looking to make up some miles.

Oh, it's potent,

it's dripping, Mum.

It smells potent, it smells of food.

Hopping from bus to bus,

they are aiming to reach the city of Phitsanulok by tonight.

This way?

45 baht for one.

One. Yeah. OK, yeah. 16.40.

Shall we go? Yeah. Let's go.

WOMAN SPEAKS THAI

BOTH: What?

Did you give me the right ticket?

What did you just give me?

Shoot.

Where did I...? Hold on.

No, you gave me the ticket to me. And when did I give them to you?

Around there? Around where?

We've lost our ticket. That's OK. Is that OK? Thank you.

Was that the right ticket?

No, but they took pictures of us.

OK.

Bloody devil, I tell you, that's just...

Don't touch anything from your pockets going forward.

Hello?

OK, ignore me.

My mistake is noted, Isabel.

No, but I'm...

It's actually starting to get to me today.

It's the little digs and all the rest of it

and being with Isabel 24/7,

I don't even get any space, emotionally, from it.

What have I said? You just shut down.

The communication's awful, I feel.

It almost feels like it's getting a bit more tense,

rather than less tense.

But I'd like to have a little plan in place.

The plan in place will be to see if there's any trains, all right?

I think that is slowing us down,

but I don't know how to break through

whatever barrier there seems to be.

I can't win, no matter what I say, anyway, Isabel.

Yeah, OK, whatever.

She's going to need to stop beating me up

because you know when you feel like you just want to throw in the towel?

440km north-east...

Oh, my God! Look how beautiful.

I hope that's not the only elephant we see.

"Betty and James are venturing further off the beaten track,

deep into rural Thailand.

Sick, to be fair.

...reaching the province of Roi Et,

a region famed for farming high-quality jasmine rice,

grown in paddies traditionally ploughed by water buffalo.

Hi. Hello. Good afternoon.

Welcome to the farm.

With money tight, Betty and James have answered an ad

in the jobs directory. Here you go.

Bon appetit.

In exchange for some elbow grease, they'll receive local wages

and bed and board for the night.

We're literally being paid, like, £1 something an hour

and we could do with a little bit more.

And you look overjoyed.

That smile on your face.

Being on, you know, the race with Betty, you know,

money's been lost and having to have those sort of moments

where we do feel emotional, it's not easy still,

but I think keeping myself happy keeps Betty happy as well.

That was quite fun, actually.

I was feeling a bit upset and she was there for me.

It was really nice. She was sort of that shoulder to cry on.

You know, you just don't want to feel like you've let someone down.

His name is Joshua.

Want to spray him for us?

Oh, my God, he's huge.

just be careful with the feet.

He weighs 1.3 tonnes.

No. Rude boy.

His ass is the most sensitive and he likes people to just make him relax.

Nah!

Bit closer.

We don't have that relationship.

I think what surprised me about James and I is, like,

I didn't really expect us to just kind of get on this well.

The first night of this leg when he was a bit down

because of the money belt situation, in the weirdest way,

it was, like, nice to see him

emotional and I think he's a bit of a softie at heart, to be honest.

He likes that. Yeah, he does like that, but I don't.

JOSHUA GRUNTS Argh!

800, that's a bit more than we were expecting, actually.

I reckon washing our friend...

Washing our josh gave us some more dosh!

Oh.

Can't move.

Having clocked up almost 640km since this morning...

Thanks very much. Cheers.

...Stephen and Viv have at last arrived in the city of Lampang.

In my head, I planned my birthday a little bit differently.

Ten-hour bus turned into a 12-hour bus.

Yeah, they're just draining the toilet off.

But, I mean, I'm just happy to be here, happy to still be alive,

happy to be in the race, happy to be in Lampang.

You know, just, I'm just happy.

Their endurance test has paid off,

landing them within 300km of the checkpoint -

closer than any of the other teams.

Happy birthday, my darling. Cheers.

Ah.

Hmm.

First one since I've been 66.

Officially getting your pension and your bus pass.

Yeah, I know.

Do you want another one? Go on, then, let's.

This is the problem, isn't it? You can't say no.

It is my birthday. I'll put, take it out me pension.

Thank goodness for that.

Early start for work. Whee!

You up for this white water rafting, then?

Yeah. Absolutely. Nice, yeah.

Once we've done that, I think it's then time to head to checkpoint.

Having spent the past seven hours on local transport

trying to reach the city of Khon Kaen,

Alfie and Owen need to change trains once more.

Hello.

Um, can we get two tickets to Khon Kaen, please?

Full.

Oh, BLEEP.

Every train is full.

Tomorrow? Tomorrow.

We might be about to be absolutely doomed.

The next one we can get is at 10.30.

Yeah, but look at the time it gets in, 3.30.

The final raft's at 3.30.

ls there any way to get to Phitsanulok?

First train, 2pm.

Tomorrow? Yeah.

Ooh.

You need hotel tonight?

Yeah, yeah.

We're actually buggered. I feel sick.

For the first time, we're actually BLEEP.

Yeah, you don't have to keep saying it,

like, we're just going to have to stay here tonight.

This is the worst on the race that I've felt.

I don't how we bounce back from this.

We are absolutely stuffed.

We're going to have to try and just gun it to checkpoint.

It's just putting a lot of pressure on us

getting from one place all the way to checkpoint.

I don't want to do that.

I don't think there's another option.

The worry now is that we had a big lead.

We don't know where the others are in the race.

We could be sort of 18 hours,

24 hours behind by the time we get to checkpoint.

And we're in the middle of nowhere.

The ancient city of Phitsanulok,

famed for its ornate architecture...

Oh, I think these are plastic lilies - they're not real.

...but also the Ban Khlong Water Lily Park...

I'm not standing on that.

You must be joking!

"offering a photo opportunity for visitors brave enough

to step onto a specially reinforced

giant lily pad_

I can't do both, I can't catch you and take a photo.

You're not going to catch me anyway. Hmm.

I just don't want to stand here.

Mum, come on.

I'm going to carry on walking this way.

Mum, you're ignoring what I'm saying.

What's wrong?

To be honest, I question why you want me on the race,

because, at the moment, I feel like I am your punch bag.

Mum, I thought this'd be an opportunity for us

to get to know one another and connect a bit emotionally.

And the sort of conversations

I think we could be having, we don't have.

We could have them.

But I would suggest that maybe you shut me down.

You come across as being irritated by me, Isabel.

I think I'm very impatient with a lot of people.

That's one thing I've realised is a massive flaw of mine,

my impatience. But a lot of the time,

you don't actually express what you're thinking.

I always have to feel like I need to read your expressions...

But you read them wrong!

Well, if you vocalised and actually said how you were feeling,

it'd be easier.

I don't hear, "Oh, I feel this way."

You don't say that often.

So, what I will say, then, Isabel,

I will tell you in the moment, but I don't want to battle with you.

I want to address it, rather than just sweep it under the carpet.

OK, so there's things that we can improve. Mm.

Right?

In terms of how we communicate with each other

and I, I, and I'm hearing that, all right?

We're a long way from things being mended,

but it's quite useful having certain things out in the open.

We've been first for checkpoint one, first for checkpoint two,

second to checkpoint three,

so maybe it would work even better

if we could sort the relationship side out.

260km north of Phitsanulok...

...outside the city of Lampang...

Horse poo, oh, this is one's favourite.

...a place known historically in Thailand

as "horse carriage city"...

That's it, you pre-scrape over there for me, darling.

Oh, ah!

Don't let your handle fall.

Oh! jeez.

...Viv and Stephen are toiling at a stables

where wooden carriages are still hand-built

and horses are specially bred to pull them.

I sort of suspected it was more carriage than horse.

I thought I wanted something a little bit more specialised

and intrinsic.

It's dark in here, stinks of horse,

horse poo, bare hands, it's not a pleasant experience.

This is not something I would ever choose to do.

I think a firm poo is good as a general life skill.

Stephen just hates getting muck on his fingers,

whereas I don't mind it.

Swish the bucket out with your hand.

Going forwards, he's going to have to come out of his comfort zone.

Ah! You're kidding me! Ha-ha-ha!

He used to live in a port a cabin when I first met him.

I used to say that he was like my little fireman, actually,

like, he just used to look like that in his shorts and his wellies.

And now he's just, like, gone Miss Precious.

Oh, that's terrible, look at this muck here.

I just, I don't know if I've turned him into this cosseted thing

that doesn't like getting his hands dirty.

Nothing worse than a sloppy poo.

Do you want me in overalls and worky?

That's what you used to be like. Did you like that, did you?

Yeah. I thought we'd both grown out of that.

I always get the impression you rather like your lady's lifestyle.

Hmm.

I do, but I can also knuckle down.

Mvjob...

As I've got older, I've just changed over time.

Perhaps the vulnerability.

Uh, self preservation.

I know I need to do more to help Viv.

But she empowers me to let me do what I want,

but I will be so scared of my not being enough, I suppose.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

Such a nice day. Thank you. Thank you. Oh.

I've got a blister, I've got a blood blister.

I feel like checking into a hotel and just getting clean.

Let's head to Chiang Mai.

We've got to dash to the checkpoint.

The teams can approach the fourth checkpoint,

Mae Sariang, from two directions.

The north-east via the major city of Chiang Mai

or the south via Mae Sot.

James, your bag reeks of fish. What?

Having worked their way through Thailand's remote east...

Do you go to Mae Sot?

INDISTINCT CHATTER

8.40.

...Betty and James are now swinging across country

to reach Mae Sot tonight.

Somewhere juices from a bag of fish has leaked all over my bag.

Oh, my God.

SHE COUGHS

While in Phitsanulok...

Push me up.

He's got you.

..Isabel and Eugenie board a night train.

There's no legroom.

This for eight hours.

...bound for Chiang Mai, arriving in the morning.

You want your biscuits? THEY LAUGH

Oh, you take that, I'll get the bags, then.

Chiang Mai bus station...

All right. Bus ticket office.

..200km north-east of the checkpoint.

BOTH: Mae Sariang?

Where do we get tickets? Where do we buy a ticket?

Over there? Thank you.

Hello, we're trying to get to Mae Sariang.

My car, this way.

You want to take us?

Please, please. Oh, you're such a lovely man.

You're so lovely, thank you.

Oh, my goodness. Thank you.

Oh! I've seen Eugenie and Isabel. You're kidding me.

Oh, God. Oh, God.

Oh, gee whizz, now the race is on, isn't it? Yeah.

I think they're going to see us!

Ha-ha! They've seen us! Bye!

They left last. Argh!

Seeing them, we definitely need to get the quickest route possible.

It has influenced us. Mm-mm.

Uh, and the race is on.

Can we go?

I think we can outrun them.

Mae Sariang? Two people.

Two people. Fast. 2,000.

2,500 for two people.

Now, now, right, come on. Which one?

Come on, this one here. Fast as you can.

The fact that we've actually caught up 16 hours

and at the same place at the same time as them,

that's really encouraging.

How fast is he going, then?

The speedo's broken. Oh, is it? THEY LAUGH

You got a knife? I'm hoping to peg it.

What? This is what you call a peg.

Mum, stop saying that.

It's called segmenting.

That is how I say "peg it"!

While two teams race to the checkpoint from the north-east...

We're on our way, at least. Finally.

Yay!

Not too expensive either.

...approaching from the south along the Myanmar border...

Get some fresh air in them hills.

...James and Betty are weaving through the peaks

of the Shan Highlands.

When we made our structure of the leg,

we wanted to get a little bit more of this, didn't we?

The less touristy bits, and we've definitely got that.

I'm actually glad we came this way. just for this view.

Probably the first time, like,

I've ever seen anything like this, to be honest.

Oh, goodness me.

3,000? Thank you.

It's the end of the Buddhist holiday period "Vassa"

and Mae Sariang is decked out

for the traditional festival of celebration.

BEEPING

"Make your way to the Mae Kong Bridge."

Mae Kong Bridge.

Oh, this is it. Here we go.

Oh! Thank you.

You know where Mae Kong Bridge is? "Kong" as in King Kong.

Straight on? Thank you. Straight on.

Go. Oh.

Oh, it's bloody beautiful.

Mae Kong Bridge.

There's no signs.

Ah, there's a bridge!

With all the lanterns and things.

BEEPING

"600m upstream there's a teak building, the Hotel River House.

"Taking the main road, proceed on foot."

What's upstream? The water's going that way.

No, I thought that's downstream.

Don't know.

I'm dripping.

There's the bridge, there's the bridge, come on. OK.

There's people behind us.

OK. We need to do this.

VIV: There's the others up ahead.

Oh, yes.

Mum, we need to speed up cos they're right there.

I am. I'm keeping up now.

STEPHEN: Get out the way!

Come on, Mum, speed up.

Well, this is the main road. Upstream is that way.

Go on, straight ahead, straight ahead.

ISABEL: Could it not be down there? Shall we?

Oh. I'm guessing we turn left.

ISABEL: I think I might have messed up.

This isn't a main route. OK.

Come on, then.

It said taking the main road, so I'm going straight on.

Oh, God!

ISABEL: Mum, speed up!

STEPHEN: They're coming back.

Here we go.

Ah.

Cos they're going that way.

Oh, they're coming this way.

I can't see. Not bothered. Turn left.

Oh, shit. You all right?

CareiuL careful.

Wiped out. Keep going.

ISABEL: I think we need to follow it round.

I can't see 'em. Can't hear 'em.

Push for the finish! Come on.

Oh, my God!

SCREAMING

This is what I was after. Yeah, this is better!

I had just kind of forgotten about the fact that

we do need to get to checkpoint today.

And, if we don't, then it is a disaster.

I've also forgotten that we might need to spend £110 on a taxi.

I've also forgotten that I might die and it won't matter.

This is what I imagine a teak building to be like, though.

Yeah? Yeah.

I think so.

Is this the Hotel River House?

No...

Oh! Oh, BLEEP! OK.

Teak is a hardwood, dark, rich, luscious.

I had furniture made out of it a long time ago.

I can't do this. You can, just keep walking!

Oh! Mum, it's not far!

Come on, we've got this!

STEPHEN: Well, we're not going to be last cos they're behind us.

So it's third or upwards.

Can you speed up at all? I could try.

Hotel River House! There it is! Come on!

Push for the finish!

Coming up on the inside is Vivian. She's overtaking Stephen.

Good girl! Come on!

It's there. Oh!

Ah! No!

No way! Ha-ha-ha-ha.

0h, my giddy aunt!

I can hardly write, I'm so excited!

Who knew? First place. It's mad! It's absolutely mad. It's unreal!

Totally mad. Unreal. What day is it?

I don't know. Do you know, I think

we've been bloody brilliant this leg.

We've determined our route. We've gone that way.

We haven't been detoured by it.

Without you beside me, I couldn't do this, couldn't do it at all.

Shucks! Go get a room!

Oh! It was really, really close. Sorry, it's just...

I couldn't go any faster. It's fine, it's fine.

It's not been too negative. We're second with two minutes between us.

So it seems to be working.

It's almost like we need that morale boost, so... Mm.

Yeah, I think that's our strategy going forward.

Hello. Oh!

Go on, Stephen and Viv!

Leg four started very, very rocky.

It couldn't have started much worse.

The route we took was just unreal.

We'll never forget.

The boys have dropped off massively.

Hello, is there any way you could call us a taxi?

We need to go to Mae Sariang.

5,800. Oh, my God!

5,800? BLEEP me.

It's a shit situation. There's no dressing it up.

It's so much money to get to where we need to go.

Neither of us want to make this decision.

You know, we don't want to get a taxi, neither of us.

But, at the end of the day, we've got to do what we've got to do.

It's just this looming cloud over me thinking, like,

is this going to bite us in the arse later down the road?

Oh, well. 480km.

Strap in!

I'm genuinely so scared to open up that book tonight.

K0 Phi Phi. I think it's going to be beautiful!

Beaches, crystal waters.

Quickly! Come on!

Oh, my God! This is stressful!

I think we want two different things out of the race.

You only really know me as a parent.

Oh, my God!

We've got to attack this leg as hard as we can.

I'm willing to take the risk.

And if it bites us in the arse, then we will have to deal with that.

Coming down, darling! Oh! Eh! Eh! Eh!

You wanted me to have an adventure.

EMOTIONALLY: I wanted you to see how strong you are!