Original subtitles

- Right. Thank you so much. - Thank you, my friend.

- Right, there goes 130 quid. Just like that.

Not like we're on a budget or anything.

If we've done all this, spent all that money

and we're still last, like...

- How far behind were we? - Yeah, exactly!

- After a six-day adventure through central Thailand...

- They can't be far. Right, come on, then.

- ..Alfie and Owen are the last team to reach the fourth checkpoint.

- Is this it?

Hotel. - Yeah, that's it.

- To get here has cost them close to 5% of their budget.

- Hello.

- Welcome to Mae Sariang.

Please sign in. - Thank you.

Ah, let's see what this was worth, then.

I can a guarantee it won't have been 130 quid, whatever the result is.

Oh, wow.

- Bloody hell! - We're 11 hours behind first. - Yeah.

God, they made up a lot of time.

A little bit of a shock, seeing fourth after being

first on the last leg.

Thank you. - Enjoy your stay. - Thank you.

- Honestly, I didn't think we'd need to use a taxi this soon on.

The fact we've had to do that just shows that, you know,

we've gone from hero to zero in the space of five or six days.

- It's a... It's an overall disappointment for me.

- It's weird how small this place is compared to... - Hmm.

- ..the one in Phnom Penh.

- Deep in the Shan Highlands of Mae Hong Son province,

the sleepy riverside town of Mae Sariang,

a region of Thailand less explored by tourists.

- I still can't believe we came first!

- Yeah, to go from fourth to first? Crikey.

- At the halfway point in the race,

the leaderboard has been turned upside down.

Alfie and Owen sink to the bottom

and rising to the top, new leaders Stephen and Viv.

- Number-one spot puts a target on our back.

- The race is definitely hotting up now.

- We thought that maybe the boys were our biggest competition now.

- Yeah. - Stephen and Viv are top... - They still could be, though.

They'll have the fire up their bums after this leg. - Yeah.

- There's four weeks to go.

All of the teams are surprised that we came last.

- Yeah, which says it all, yeah. - So we're clearly a threat to them.

- Yeah, exactly, and we've learnt lessons now.

It's just time to use those lessons so...

- Yeah. - Yeah, I'm not worried.

- This looks good.

That's nice.

- Think we're slowly getting there now with our communication.

I think it's getting a lot better.

We did have that big blip,

but I think it's nice we can have that openness and honesty as well.

- And are you enjoying my company, Isabel?

- I'm enjoying your company but, erm, it would still be nice to

have some space if I'm being honest, but it has been a...

- It's not easy, being with each other 24/7, is it? - No.

- I'm excited for what's to come.

I feel like, looking at the map,

there has to be some beach somewhere.

- Beach would be class. - Yeah.

- While Mae Sariang sleeps...

..it's an early start to the fifth leg of the race.

- Koh Phi Phi.

Guessing Thailand.

Never heard of it.

Not a clue.

- Just two minutes separate the two teams out in front.

- Koh Phi Phi, I think, logically, it's going to be south Thailand.

- I'm 100% sure it's an island down south.

- If it's an island, I'm really excited cos that sounds like

a beach to me.

I need a bit of that.

- 1,500km to the south, checkpoint number five...

..the paradise island of Koh Phi Phi...

..where long-tailed boats,

leopard sharks and lionfish

line the crystal-clear waters of the Andaman Sea.

For the teams, it's only accessible from the ports of Phuket or Krabi,

and they must travel the length of Thailand to reach it.

- Koh Phi Phi is down here.

Such a long, long country. - Yeah.

- Thailand is huge.

- Leaving the remote north-west behind, all roads lead to Bangkok

and, for the teams, it's a race to get there,

but direct buses are often booked up days in advance...

..so the teams could choose to travel via Mae Sot,

an area rich in Burmese influences, rarely explored by Westerners...

..or they could detour east to Thailand's second-largest city,

Chiang Mai, to make use of its abundant travel options.

- Chiang Mai was a big transport hub and I would've thought the quickest

route is going to be going up there and straight down to Bangkok.

- Yeah. I'd love to spend more time further south, actually,

see the beaches and the coastline.

- Yeah. - That's my idea of paradise, I think.

Hello.

Do you know where the bus station is?

- BOTH: - The bus station.

- We've got a little bit of a gap behind us.

I don't want to be too relaxed about it, but it gives us

a little bit of leeway that we can actually have

a little bit more fun and enjoy it a bit more. - Oof.

I counter everything she just said there, basically.

There's not a chance that we can do that.

We've got to keep chasing... - Yeah, I know we have to.

- ..got to keep our direction, got to keep our focus...

- Yeah. - ..cos that could disappear overnight. - I know.

- We run our race, let them run theirs. - OK.

- Don't worry about it.

- To reach Bangkok, Stephen and Viv

intend to travel east via Chiang Mai...

- So, I would rather travel via Mae Sot because we came here

via Chiang Mai.

- OK, so just another route. - It'll make more sense. - OK. - Yeah.

- ..while Eugenie and Isabel are aiming south through Mae Sot.

- We're starting the race off tired.

Well, I'M starting the race tired.

- But we're also starting the race off with a very long journey,

which we can sleep on, Mum.

- Yeah, well... - We know it'll take us at least four or five hours

to get to Mae Sot, so that's time to sleep.

- You know I'm tired and you know the reason why.

- Because you blame me for being tired.

- Sorry? - It's fine.

- I'm going to blame you for what?

- I kept you up.

- Well, you know, then, so just show some empathy, then!

- I didn't keep you up, I didn't tell you to not go to bed.

- How can I go to sleep?

You hadn't packed or anything.

- Mum's an ogre when she's not had sleep.

Snappy, she's just ridiculously snappy.

I'm just not going to say much and just let her have her space.

- Is that to Mae Sot? - Yeah.

- How much?

- How much?

Four...

- To help cover the 234km to Mae Sot in comfort,

Isabel and Eugenie invest in a Songthaew...

- I would just focus on going to sleep, Mum.

- ..and are first to leave Mae Sariang.

- Last night, we all had dinner and then us younger lot had some

gin and tonics and beer, and just ended up chatting for a bit.

I told her she could go to sleep, and I could tuck myself in,

and I'd be quiet, but she refused.

Well, maybe I am partly to blame,

but the gin and tonics were good!

- Still in town...

- Please, please, please, please. - Please.

- ..Stephen and Viv are taking a more frugal approach.

- Oh, this brings back long, long ago memories.

Certainly Norwich to Hull and Hull to Norwich I've done.

- Despite having the healthiest budget of all the teams,

they aim to cover the 200km to Chiang Mai without splashing cash.

- I think if we outsmart the other teams, we can win this.

- We've got a five-minute walk. Come on.

Then we stop, hitch a bit.

Bit of a walk, bit of a hitch.

Hubba-da, hubba-da, hubba-da.

- We're a bit frugal cos we like getting value for money.

We don't just splash our cash around.

Don't just like to waste money on things.

- We've both known poverty, so... - Yeah, we've both known hard times.

- Ahh... Where are you going?

- Going to Chiang Mai.

- You're going to Chiang Mai? - Yes.

- Can we come with you? - OK.

- Oh, thank you! Thank you! - Oh!

- Ah, that is brilliant!

- In the face of adversity,

you've just got to stay positive, haven't you? - Yeah.

- And hope that something will come along.

- Koh Phi Phi, here we come.

- Nope. No, no, no, no, no, no. - Ooh...

- OK, let's go.

- Next to get going, Betty and James -

less than four hours after the race leaders.

- Woo! It's an island!

- Just south of... - That means beach.

- Yeah. - It's going to be beautiful.

- VO: - Travel, for me, definitely gives me that sense of freedom.

Oh, I'm so excited.

Feeling like I'm actually experiencing a life that

I want to live.

I'm just so excited to get to the beach. I'm excited to get there.

I suppose I had that hope that James would maybe follow in those

footsteps, but all I see James doing is wearing shit shirts

and straw hats on Instagram, and drinking with the lads, so...

- THEY CHUCKLE

- Are you ready? - Ugh. Yes.

- Do you want to try Bangkok as quickly as possible? - Yeah.

Is that a bus stop? - Maybe.

- Oh, express bus tickets! - Mae Sariang to Bangkok!

- Oh, wow.

Hello.

- We want to go to Bangkok.

Oh...

- There's nothing today?

- BLEEP

- The options are four o'clock bus to Chiang Mai

or tomorrow evening, Bangkok.

- It's not ideal start to the leg. - No.

- Two tickets to Chiang Mai. Thank you.

- Even though we know Chiang Mai is a way from checkpoint,

we just want to feel like we're on the road.

Mae Sariang, it's been nice.

Chiang Mai, here we come.

- As the siblings head east...

- I think one of, like, the best temples in Thailand's in Chiang Mai.

- Oh, really?

I think the national sport, like, Muay Thai boxing,

so it'd be quite nice to see that.

Start the leg off nicely.

- Yeah...

- Yaaah...

- Already in Chiang Mai...

- Thank you.

- Blimey, what a legend.

Oh, this looks like a beautiful place.

- In the lee of the country's highest mountain, Doi Inthanon,

Thailand's cultural heart abounds in temples, theatres and festivals.

The old city is still marked out by the remains of ramparts,

gates and moats dating back to the 13th century.

- Something about water just makes it beautiful.

- Yeah, lovely place.

- But there's still a buzz of a city too. - Mm.

- Right, over the bridge to the station.

- But Stephen and Viv are resisting its allure.

- Hello. - Hello.

- Can we have two persons to Rangsit, please?

- Do you want first class or...?

- No, two seats, please.

Yes, please. Yes. - Yeah.

- No air-con.

- No air-con? Oh, God!

- I was going to go more expensive ones because we saved

all that money getting here... - No, that's not how you save money.

- ..but he said no. - You don't save it and then spend it all,

it's not a saving, then, is it?

- No. No, darling.

- Continuing the focus on budget...

- It's going to be sticky, isn't it?

- ..they're heading to a job just outside Bangkok...

..a 13-hour overnight train journey away.

- This doesn't look so bad.

Ask me about it in 12 hours' time.

- SHE CHUCKLES

- Bus station?

- This way? - This way.

- And then go left, maybe.

OK, fine, thank you. - Thank you.

- At the back of the pack for the first time, Alfie and Owen

itching to leave Mae Sariang 11 hours after the leaders set off.

- We went too far off the beaten track in the last leg.

I want to just go straight down into Bangkok,

but we can't be fourth.

For me, that is not acceptable,

you know, we have to got to be at the top of our game this time.

If we can get a bus to Bangkok, I don't care how long it takes.

- Hello. We need to get to Bangkok. What buses are there today?

- We don't have a seat for you.

You have to wait for tomorrow.

- Oh, no.

- Oh, it feels so shit. - Yeah.

Right... OK.

Erm... Is there anywhere else we can go first

and then from there go to Bangkok?

- Yes, to Chiang Mai. Ten o'clock in the morning.

- I don't even know what to say, man.

- There's no seats to Bangkok tonight?

- No, tomorrow, 4pm.

- 4pm. - We don't have in the morning.

- Ah. - We just have in the evening.

- Is that the earliest one we can do?

- Yes.

- Argh...

- For the boys, a big call.

- It all just feels so grim to not move.

- Wait for the next bus to Bangkok...

- Oh, Jesus.

- ..and they'll have to sit tight for over 21 hours

while the other teams continue to advance towards the capital.

- So...I don't think there's actually any tangible benefit to leaving here

tomorrow morning...

- To somewhere else. - ..to go somewhere that's not Bangkok.

Yes, we'd be standing still,

but we're going to need to go to Bangkok anyway.

It's shit. - Probably does...

It is shit, but it makes more sense than...

Cos you know how bad it's going to feel

if we get to Mae Sot or Chiang Mai and then can't get out.

It's going to be a good test to see

how well we can actually work together.

- We know everything about each other. It's...

- Yeah, we just have to put faith in each other...

- Yeah. - ..which we do.

- We could hitchhike, but the chances of us

getting a hitchhike to Chiang Mai from here...

- I don't even know where to start. I don't even know where the road is.

- I think we should do the four o'clock bus to Bangkok tomorrow.

Yeah?

- It's a bit of a risk, but it could really pay off.

- I'm willing to take the risk and if it works, amazing.

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

- Almost 200km away...

- Thank you. - Yay.

Let's go. - Sick! Let's go!

- ..James aims to capitalise

on the change of plan that has brought them to Chiang Mai.

- This is class.

Do you not think?

- I'm glad there's some distance, that's all I can say.

- I think this is class.

- I'm not ready to see people fi...

- SHE GASPS

- They've got popcorn!

- Popular with tourists, Muay Thai's sweeps and strikes using fists,

elbows, knees and shins are admired as the art of the eight limbs.

- Oh, lovely! Go on!

Give it to him!

Comeback of the century!

Oh, my God! Oh!

Was just, like, amazing to see, really.

Back up! Legend!

Go on! Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!

That adrenaline, full-on competitiveness, the action,

the bit of thrill, wanting to win, needing to win,

highlights what I've been missing, I think.

All right.

- Shot.

- James played competitive cricket from the age of 11

and by 19 was on the fringes of the Yorkshire county first team.

- Cricket, to me, was pretty much everything.

I think I made my second team debut two, three years ago.

Got to bowl at the Australia team,

England team in practice,

on the verge of being professional.

- Not too bouncy.

- DAD CHUCKLES

- My journey ended with an appraisal with my coaches

and they basically said,

"You're not good enough for Yorkshire and our standards.

"Thanks for everything. Bye."

Rang my dad, I told him, he started crying.

It was only when I got off the phone that I started crying.

It was all I saw myself doing.

So...

Yeah.

- BELL RINGS

- Oh, my God!

This is the best thing I've ever seen!

- When you've dedicated your whole life to something, it must be

heartbreaking, but we've not really ever spoken about it, one on one.

- I really enjoyed that.

- Yeah, I could tell by your face, to be fair. - I think it's been sick!

- He is capable of going to new places,

he's capable of doing anything he wants with his life.

It'll definitely be nice to wake up tomorrow

and, like, see Chiang Mai in the light... - Yeah.

- ..but then we'll have both had culture in our own different ways,

and that's good. - Yeah.

Oh, God.

That was the worst night's sleep ever.

In fact, I wouldn't even call it sleep.

- No. It was noisy, it was uncomfy.

Oh...

- After a night in the cheap seats, Stephen and Viv are approaching

Rangsit, just outside of Bangkok.

- I am tired, but it'll be a great day.

- Yeah. We like getting our ducks in a row. - That we do.

- Continuing to prioritise budget,

they've secured a rather unusual job.

- Oh, my God!

Wow, the racket!

You want all the ducks...? - Run? - Right.

- Before the sun reaches its zenith and temperatures soar,

duck herder Dao's 8,000-strong flock must be corralled

into the surrounding paddy fields.

- Oh, it smells like duck shit.

- THEY CHUCKLE

THEY CALL OUT

- Away, Shep! Away, Shep!

- Here, their grazing acts as an environmentally friendly

pesticide, helping farmers rid their rice crops of invasive insects.

- Oh, my God.

- Ugh!

Heeeey!

- HIGH-PITCHED: - Heeeey!

You need to do the high one every now and then. - Heeeey.

- Howay! Oh, they're all running! - Hey, hey, hey!

Come on Stephen, quick! Get 'em! - Hey! Hey!

Hey!

- I mean, we've had a horrendous journey on the train.

Now, he's got his little twinkle in his eye again.

- Aww, this little one!

Come on! - Come on, keep up!

- All right, little fella, come on.

Go and play with your friends.

There you go.

What I didn't want to do was just

become someone who potters in the garden.

- HE CHUCKLES

- I want to go out, doing what we enjoy...

- In a blaze of glory, rather than... - Yeah.

If I drop dead on a dance floor or falling off a mountain,

don't care as long as it's what we want to do.

Oh, coming down, darling!

- Whoa! Ey, ey, ey!

Hey!

- After a rocky start from the checkpoint,

Isabel and Eugenie have navigated their way cross-country to

reach the heavenly city, Nakhon Sawan.

- Do you want breakfast?

- Yeah.

- It's just felt like a bit of a tense morning.

I do feel quite guilty.

I'll just get Mum a peace offering of some food.

So I got you a toastie. - OK.

- And then there's some cupcakes if you want them now as well.

- No, I'll just have the toastie now.

- We want different things out of the race.

I think Mum really wants to relax.

Think that might be why we're butting heads so much.

Mum hates me saying this, but she is getting very old.

It would be nice to actually be able to know a bit more about her and

just be there, and know that you're actually catering for her needs.

Do you want to do your tour to this waterfall?

- I definitely would like to go and just experience it.

- To placate her mum,

Isabel proposes to head to the majestic Erawan waterfalls,

an area of stunning natural beauty deep in the Kanchanaburi province...

- Hello, erm, bus to Kanchanaburi?

- ..but to get there, they need to make three bus connections

and will be travelling away from Bangkok.

- Can you push me up?

- Waterfalls aren't necessarily my cup of tea and I'm a bit nervous

cos I think we might be last,

but I do think it's something she needs.

- I'm feeling absolutely shattered today,

but what has helped is Isabel being really kind and caring,

and she's just got on with things.

- 500 miles to the north...

- Worth an ask. - Definitely worth an ask.

- All right, this is the most demoralising thing I've ever done.

Do you have any work for, like, money?

- Still static.

- Is there, like, anything round here that we could do?

Yeah, thank you.

- Owen and Alfie try to fill time before their 4pm bus to Bangkok.

- Earning any money in the free time we have is a win-win, really.

- Work equals money, money equals good,

good equals happy.

- We don't have any work for you right here...

- OK.

- ..but we have a... Erm...

I heard another place there... - Right.

- ..there is some work there.

- OK, we'll go there. - Thank you very much. Thank you for your help.

- Good luck. - Thank you!

- We spent too much money on the last leg,

simply to make up ground,

so there is an absolutely massive pressure to work once if not twice.

- You can clean the room.

- Yeah, OK. That's fine.

Shall we have it like that? - They do it... - Or like here?

- No cos they do it like this, so bring it, like, up to here

and then fold it back.

- Yeah, so like that.

- No, no.

Can you do towel origami?

- I wish I could.

- Can't even dry myself with a towel.

- Normally, once we leave a checkpoint, you know, we're out of

the town or city within a few hours,

but other couples left at 4am yesterday.

They're well on their way and we're just still here.

It's just a bit of a weird feeling.

- Although the boys continue to wait it out...

- Do you have six o'clock bus?

Thank you so much.

- And there is a meal on board? - Yeah.

- Perfect.

That's great stuff. - Amazing.

- Meal, accommodation and travel.

- ..Betty and James have yet to move on from Chiang Mai,

700km from Bangkok, but with a bus booked that will get them there

early tomorrow morning.

- Oh, look at those steps.

- It's like vertical.

- Before they board, it's Betty's turn to dictate the itinerary.

- It'll be worth it when we get to the top for sure.

- Accessible by climbing 306 steps...

..Wat Phra That Doi Suthep,

believed to house a piece of the Buddha's shoulder bone...

- I need to get something to cover my knees.

- ..making this one of the most sacred pilgrimage sites in Thailand.

- I wonder if it's real gold, though.

- Lot of gold if it is.

- Be sick if it is.

- This is beautiful.

It's actually crazy how everything's just done, like, so intricately.

- It does make you think it's not handmade, though, cos it is so good.

Oh, she is hand-painting it. - It is.

- SHE GASPS

- She's literally painting it now.

- Oh, my God.

- I think, thinking back to last night and literally watching

people punch each other in the face to now, being here to this

tranquil space, the contrast between that is just nuts.

- It's lovely.

- I think in terms of compromises,

this has been one of our best ones yet.

- Just walking round, you can see the detail of every little thing,

I didn't really have any words.

This is sort of the first time doing something like this

and enjoy it for what it is.

- Look at that view.

- I think it just shows that there's things out there that

I haven't really discovered and seen yet.

Hope there's a lot more to come.

- Playing cricket was your life,

then suddenly, one day, that wasn't your life.

Didn't that feel a bit shit?

- Yeah. It was shit.

If you find yourself in shit situations,

you've got to dig yourself out of them. - Mm.

Are you ready to get on our 11-hour bus? - Yes.

Definitely.

- To the bus station? - 100.

- 100 for both of us? OK. - Yeah.

- Whoo!

So I'm excited to get moving back south, towards checkpoint.

- Yeah, yeah.

- As the siblings race to get their overnight bus to Bangkok...

- We are miles away.

- Oh, God we've got five minutes.

- We're running.

- We need to run for our bus. - We're going to run.

Where's the bus station? Where's the bus station?

- This is - BLEEP - awful.

- First team to reach the capital...

- Think I'd like to lay to rest my jinx of dolphin watching.

- STEPHEN CHUCKLES

..Viv and Stephen plan their next step south...

- Pink dolphins in Khanom. - Yeah.

- ..their sights set on sightseeing 817km away on the east coast.

- Two train tickets to Khanom.

- I really don't fancy another one of them.

Do you?

- No, but it's a race.

- So we're never going to do this again.

- I know. 16 hours. - That's 16 hours.

- Oh, God.

- HORN BLARES

- Bang on time.

- To the north...

- Let's get out of here.

We're so far behind, so we need to play catch-up.

Get me out of here!

It's a lovely place, but I never want to come back.

- ..Alfie and Owen are finally able to depart Mae Sariang...

..and are on their way to the capital.

- Bangkok. - I can't wait.

- Ooh, it's heavy, it's heavy.

- Currently heading away from Bangkok...

- Well, we get a nice tour of Kanchanaburi.

- Oh, lovely cool breeze. - Yeah, it's nice.

- ..Isabel and Eugenie have fallen short of their goal with two hours

still to travel to the waterfalls tomorrow.

- Sorry! Excuse me! Sorry!

If we make this bus, it's a - BLEEP - miracle.

Is that it? Is that our bus?

Oh, my God.

- Thank you.

- Oh...

- Nice. - Can't even speak.

- Well done.

- BIRDSONG

- This is nice.

It's quiet. Tranquil.

Can hear the birds in the background.

- I can hear water.

- After 776km since checkpoint,

a chance for Isabel and Eugenie to shake off the dust of the road.

- Hopefully we can relax, reset, rewind.

Mum, be careful here.

It's a little slippery.

I made a pact to myself that I will be less irritable.

- Cascading from pool to pool across seven tiers, the Erawan Falls...

- Hey, this looks nice.

Oh, no!

Ugh!

- Oh, there's big fish!

- ..in each one, hundreds of doctor fish.

SHE SQUEALS

- Oh, my God!

They're like this! - The big ones are OK,

it's the little ones that nip, Isabel!

- People travel from miles around for a piscine pedicure.

- Oh, no...

- SHE LAUGHS

- This is what life's all about - spending time together here,

and just kind of belly-laughing, and just having fun together.

Well done.

And, after a while, you do get used to the fish.

- Erm, no, not really.

- It's so funny, when you're in there, you don't actually...

They look ugly, though, don't they?

- I think coming here, I felt, with the morale and just...

I think it's added a bit of positivity as well.

- I think we needed this.

- Yeah, I think so too.

- I could stay here for the whole day.

- We just need to kind of rush now, get that bus

and continue with the race.

- Yeah.

- As a rejuvenated mother and daughter head to Bangkok...

- We spent longer than we planned,

but kind of glad we went out of the way for that.

- Yeah, it was really worthwhile.

- ..beating them there...

..Alfie and Owen's patience has paid off,

their direct, overnight bus getting them to the capital

before Isabel and Eugenie,

despite starting the leg 11 hours later.

- Hello?

Oh, my God, she's asleep.

- I think our plan getting that bus direct to Bangkok

was absolutely the right decision.

We're at the point in the race where we've seen how quickly

the game can change.

- Hello?

Can we book something?

Right.

- So I think it's a feeling of positivity in terms

of our decision-making.

- Um, we want to go Surat Thani. Can we get two tickets for that, please?

- Yes. - Thank you.

- Have saved our race. Thank you.

- With nine-and-a-half hours until their bus heading south,

the boys have time to explore the city

with the longest name in the world...

..otherwise known as Bangkok.

In the centre of the city, Wat Pho temple...

- Well, that's the big Buddha.

- ..home to 46m long, 15m high reclining Buddha.

- I wasn't really sure what to expect.

When you see an advertisements saying "giant Buddha",

you don't really know how giant it is,

but you get right up close to it and you had to properly look up

90 degrees just to be able to see it.

- Fashioned on his side,

calm and content just before reaching the afterlife

and achieving nirvana.

- This is definitely more of an Owen experience than me.

I get a little bit frustrated by tourist hot spots.

I mean, it's an unbelievable sight, it's absolutely worth coming.

I just feel like the nature of the area and the nature of how many

tourists there are just kind of takes away from the actual meaning.

But obviously, whilst we're on the race, we need to remember

that the beaten track is often the safer way to go because it's

more reliable transport and we can get more reliable information,

so this is where we are for the time being.

We going?

- Cool.

Head to the job, yeah.

- Like, obviously we spent big, last leg,

so we need to continue to make that up,

so eyeing up any kind of work we can get.

- Er, where you go?

- INDISTINCT

- Yeah?

- Also in Bangkok...

- Neither of us had a shower.

- Not eaten much breakfast.

- We're absolutely shattered.

- ..after enduring an overnight bus to get here...

- Last night's bus was horrific and we didn't sleep much.

- I got about 20 minutes.

- ..Betty and James have lined up a much-needed job

just outside the city.

- Hello. Hi. - Hello. - Hello.

- Nice to meet you.

It's so nice. Beautiful. - It's beautiful.

- 22 years ago, Mrs Warrapong gave up a career in banking

to build the family guava farm.

Not just a food crop, guava are traditionally used to treat

ailments such as fever and high blood pressure.

- Right, you try.

- Oh!

- Two paper, OK.

- OK, no, no, no...

- In return, they require protecting from the sun.

- OK! That's good.

- Said I'm good.

- How many of these on the whole thing?

- One million. - One million?

- Yes. - One million plants?

- Yeah.

- Two months. - Two months of doing this? The whole thing?

- Yes. - Oh, my God. - I did two.

- This morning, we didn't really have a very good start to the day.

I didn't really want to get on with it, but, eventually,

when we had to work on here, it's beautiful,

and then getting stuck in.

- Very good. - Thank you.

I think sort of gelled and bonded quite quickly with the people.

- OK! - Woo! - Mission accomplished!

- ANNOUNCEMENT OVER LOUDSPEAKER

- There's a lot of people getting off here.

- This is the hub, isn't it, for transport links?

- Currently out in front...

- I'm quite hungry now.

- We've got another three hours to go yet.

- Stephen and Viv have arrived in Surat Thani, en route to

Khanom in search of dolphins,

but after 13 hours in economy class...

- That's ice cream. Look.

That's what I want.

- ..Viv is ready to break the bank.

- Are you happy now? - Yeah.

- BLOWS WHISTLE

- I honestly think the ice cream's tipped us over the edge.

It really has. It's blown the budget in one fell swoop.

- SHE CHUCKLES

- Mmm.

- Thank you very much. - Thank you.

It's good.

- Do you think you have the best one, the best guava?

Yeah? Number one.

- It's the first time in a long time that we've kind of had, like,

a mum and dad looking after us.

Is it OK if we sleep here?

- Ah, no. - OK.

- Ah, ah!

- LAUGHTER

- We didn't need to like speak the language to be able

to, like, have a laugh.

Even the dad was, like, cracking dad jokes in Thai,

which was...bizarre, but, yeah, it was just really nice to have

that family unit feel, I think.

- Did we do well?

Very good? Yeah?

Thank you.

- Tomorrow, we're going to Phuket

and we've booked our bus from the bus station in Bangkok.

6:45 in the morning.

What's the best way for us to get to the bus station?

- We will take you.

- You will take...? Ah! - You will drive? Oh, really? - Can you drive?

- Very early. Are you sure? - Early in the morning.

- Are you sure? Ah, thank you.

Thank you very much. - Thank you.

- Bedtime.

Where's me pillow?

- The people we've met, the job we've done, the tent stay,

the accommodation, all the food we've eaten,

and we've got a plan for tomorrow.

We've got so much out of it.

I think, basically, it's quite a good life lesson - as long as you

are happy doing what you're doing, then it makes it worth it.

Not everything is about money.

- Thank you so much.

- Yeah. No, no, we'll pay.

- Please, thank you.

- Ah, thank you so much. - Thank you so much.

Thank you so much.

- Khaawp khun. - Khaawp khun. - Khaawp khun. - Thank you.

- Betty and James are the third team to leave Bangkok...

- Phuket, yeah? - Yeah.

- ..on a 12-hour bus that will propel them along the elephant's trunk

of Thailand to the port of Phuket,

from where they'll be able to catch a boat to the fifth checkpoint.

- We've got to find out actually where Koh Phi Phi is.

- Yeah, and how to get there. - And how to get there,

if we can get there tonight. - How long it's going to take. - How long...

Yeah, all the information about Koh Phi Phi, but we could be there.

Could be, like, two hours away on a boat.

Could be an hour away. - Hmm.

- Could be half an hour.

- 659km further south...

- Koh Phi Phi? - Phuket.

Phi Phi only, Krabi, Krabi, Phi Phi.

- Krabi, Phi Phi? - Yes.

- Krabi, then.

- Yeah let's do that. - Krabi.

- ..Alfie and Owen have their sights set on reaching

Koh Phi Phi from a different port...

..on the other side of Phang Nga Bay, Krabi.

But, first, they have stopped for another cash injection.

- Good morning. - Hello.

- SHE GREETS THEM

- Er, we are working today?

- In the house? - With you? OK. - OK, yeah, thank you.

We've come right out into the sticks for this job in the literal

middle of nowhere.

Rural housing, man-made piers, man-made everything, really.

We're going to see another side of Thailand we haven't experienced yet.

- Mrs Wang Churisuwanrat's community business makes a highly sought-after

chilli paste to a traditional recipe, inspired by local produce.

- Yeah. - OK.

Bosh, done one. Only took me five minutes, but there we go.

- I don't know he's taking so long over there

because this job that I'm doing here is significantly more difficult.

- It's just fiddly.

I don't speak any Thai and she doesn't speak much English,

but you kind of just get the idea just by kind of looking at her

and what she's doing.

- This is basically just somebody's tiny, little family business,

just a real, real change of pace from the tourist chaos.

- Clean, clean, clean.

- Oh, clean the shrimp, right.

- Oh! Bloody hell.

- Very good.

- They're a bit spiky, you know.

- Spiky? - Yeah.

- One of the reasons we're working is obviously

we need to boost our budget by as much as we can.

Another big reason is, you know,

wanting to kind of embrace their culture,

working with local people, we haven't done anything like this yet.

- Now? - Slow, slow. - Slow.

I'm definitely going to change the way that I

go on holiday in the future.

There's definitely an absolute benefit to

going off the beaten track.

Think I'm actually going to try

and speak to local people a little bit more.

Probably my favourite job yet.

- I really enjoyed this, actually.

- Ah. Thank you so much. - Thank you so much.

- It felt like we actually contributed

to their local business today.

You know, she welcomed us in, showed us everything, fed us,

and I'm just hoping she puts the cherry on top by taking us

back to the station.

Perfect. - Ah.

- Let's go.

- 102km to the east...

- Wow. - Yeah.

- I never imagined doing this, I tell you. - No, no.

- ..Stephen and Viv have reached the traditional fishing town

of Khanom...

- I don't think we're going to be diving off this boat.

- No, I don't think so. - No.

- ..in pursuit of a rarely seen natural phenomenon,

and looking to lay to rest a ghost from Viv's past.

- Oh, there's a dolphin! - Where, where, where?

- Just there. Just saw it.

Look... - Yes, there he is, there he is!

There's one, there's one there! - Yeah.

Oh, look! Yeah, they are pink! They absolutely are pink.

- Are you joking? - No!

- Only 2,500 pink dolphins exist worldwide

and about 60 are thought to live in the surrounding waters.

- Oh, my God.

- Who knew there were pink dolphins?

The last time that Stephen and I went on a dolphin-watching

experience, the boat stopped and we had the opportunity to

dive into the water, which I did,

but at the moment I dived, the boat went up on a wave and the

wave, by the time I hit it, went down.

So I hit it really badly on my head.

Following day, we were due to fly home.

Upon landing, I just had a massive headache

and it turned out that I'd had a stroke.

Oh, look, there! - There they are!

Yes, yes, yes! - They absolutely are pink! Oh! - Wow!

Oh, my God! Look!

- I can't believe that!

The fact that I'd hit my head

and then the cabin pressure caused a bleed in the brain.

They're absolutely pink.

I couldn't speak, I couldn't see.

It was a long recovery road. It was about eight months.

Stephen says that I'm slightly different, but he won't say how.

To my mind, I'm pretty much recovered,

but it you know could've been so different.

- This has made Thailand worthwhile.

Epic. - It's just stunning, isn't it? - Absolutely amazing. - Absolutely.

- The two things that each of us wanted out of the race,

you wanted me to have an adventure...

- TEARFUL: - ..and I wanted you to see how strong you are.

- HE BREATHES DEEPLY

- So far, great, both of them.

Off on an adventure. And you're just brilliant.

Thank you. - Thank you.

- HE EXHALES DEEPLY

- And perhaps changing a memory from a bad experience to a good experience

does make you stronger, actually,

because this memory will just live with me forever.

Beautiful, absolutely beautiful.

- Nyaaagh!

What a day.

- The race to Koh Phi Phi is on...

..with two teams heading to the port of Krabi...

- Earliest boat is the best. - Yeah.

- We want to get there as early as possible. - Yeah.

I hope we get there soon.

What are we, three hours left?

- Two-and-a-half now, though.

- ..and Betty and James closing in on Phuket.

- We've only stopped off once.

My bum's pretty numb.

My legs are hurting.

It's boiling hot.

The air-con's a bit shit.

But light at the end of the tunnel is,

knowing Phuket's in sight is exciting.

- But 795km to the north...

- Can I close my eyes? - Oh...

- Oh, this is nice.

- ..in Bangkok, Isabel and Eugenie are struggling

to switch back into race mode.

- I'm glad we can get a night bus all the way from here straight to

Krabi cos it means when we wake up in the morning, hopefully

get one of the first ferries out and head across to...Phi Phi.

Pee Pee. It's not Fee Fee, it's Pee Pee.

- Ko Fee Fee. - Ko Pee Pee.

Oh, jeez, that hurts.

Ow!

- You said hard, didn't you?

Mine's just right.

- I think she's going easy on you cos of your age.

Do you feel like you could've done this more easily

when you were younger?

- Oh, yeah, if I was younger.

- What was 25-year-old you like?

- I was just flitting around, having a good time,

doing a bit of abseiling, bit of rock climbing, bit of caving.

- It was quite interesting to hear that she was more adventurous,

she was more open-minded when she was younger,

which is partly why I wanted to do this race

because I want to understand her more as a person.

- You only really know me as, like, a parent,

what you see me doing now.

Did kind of put myself out there in lots of different ways

when I was younger

that I might not necessarily have shared everything with you.

I quite liked the fact that Isabel wanted to know a little bit

more about what I did when I was her age.

- I'll be walking funny after this.

- I was able to share a bit more with her today.

It's a really good feeling.

- Thank you so much. - Thank you. - OK.

- OK, bye. - Bye.

I think we've moved very slow this leg if I'm honest.

So glad we're leaving Bangkok now.

I don't think we're doing fantastic, time-wise.

We need a bit of a miracle.

I hate saying it, I just want someone to miss the ferry.

- Excuse me, we're looking for the ferry to Koh Phi Phi.

It's there? Thank you.

- A popular jumping-off point for exploring the Thai islands -

the port town of Krabi.

- Oh, Koh Phi Phi island, ticket office closed.

Excuse me, how do we get to Koh Phi Phi?

- Finish boat now. - Finish boat?

- Between Stephen and Viv and Koh Phi Phi, the Andaman Sea...

- What about that little boat there?

Hello!

Koh Phi Phi? - Koh Phi Phi?

- Yes! - When? - Now.

- Erm, but no light. - But...

Oh, it's lovely. Look, it's beautiful. - Yes...

- I've got a torch. - I come back, no light.

- Oh... - Dangerous.

- ..but it's unsafe to make the crossing after dark.

So a choice for tomorrow...

- Hello. Is it possible to book for the ferry?

- We have these two options, take by speedboat and by ferry.

This by ferry, two hours, but by speedboat, it's only 45 minutes.

- ..a two-hour ferry that leaves at 9am

or a speedboat that departs 15 minutes later,

but will overtake the ferry to reach Phi Phi an hour earlier.

- It's an extra thousand.

- So that's double the price.

- Yeah. - Literally double the price for one hour.

- I don't think it's value for money and we do like value for money.

Can we buy two tickets for the ferry, please?

- Are you happy with this decision?

- Yeah. I do agree. If it was tonight, I'd pay double.

- Yes, I agree.

- We are choosing budget over race,

but at this current time, I'd be surprised if anybody came in ahead

of us, let's put it that way.

Famous last words.

- Where do we go? That way?

- About to disembark the 9am ferry to Koh Phi Phi...

- Meep-meep! - Oh!

- ..but Stephen and Viv have unexpected company.

- Who's that?

- Yes!

- I knew it.

- Buenos dias!

- Oh, hello! Hello!

- Ah, ya bugger!

- Ah, gosh. - You all right?

- Hello!

I cannot explain how happy I am to see you! - Ahh.

Damn! - Oh, wow. - You've caught up well, then. - Yeah.

- Yeah. - We'll see you on the boat, otherwise we'll miss it.

- Yeah. - Have you not got your tickets yet? - No.

- Oh, they're sold out. - Oh, they're sold out.

- LAUGHTER Ah! See you later. - Sorry, guys. - Bye!

Oh, they were last to set off, weren't they?

- They were. - They've made up some blooming ground.

- They've made up 11 hours, haven't they? - Wow.

- Yes! Success.

- Well, at least we don't need to splash out on a speedboat.

- We can't outrun them so we've got to out-think them.

- Oh, dear me.

Not best. Damn.

- So what we can do is let them find the way and then once we know

the way, run. - Yeah, and then we'll just run past them. - Yeah, OK, we'll do that.

- Sounds like a great plan to me. - Let them do the work, basically.

- Two teams set sail on a two-hour ferry journey to Koh Phi Phi.

- Now, we need our bags off first cos we've got to run.

First off, first off. Put these two over there, over there.

- We'll win if we race, we'll win if we race anyway,

don't worry about it.

- LAUGHTER

Left high and dry after an all-night bus from Bangkok...

- Hello. Sawasdee kha.

- Where are you going today?

- Phi Phi? - Phi Phi island.

The next boat will leave at 10:30.

- If that bus came in on time, we would've made the one before.

- Yeah. - This the only boat?

- We have a high-speed and then ferry.

This one ferry, but high speed, about 700 baht.

- No, thank you.

That difference actually means we're about an hour-and-a-half

behind where we could have been,

but it is what it is.

- On the other side of Phang Nga Bay...

- Want to go to Phi Phi?

- Phi Phi, yes. - Yeah, we need the fastest way, we're in a race.

- You want by speedboat?

- How much is it?

- OK, I charge you 700 baht.

- 700. - Yeah.

- OK. - Yeah. - Er... Can you do any cheaper?

- Cheaper? My boss, not me! - Please? - Please? - 650?

- 699? Huh, huh?

- LAUGHTER

Approaching Koh Phi Phi from the west,

Betty and James taking the speedy option.

- This was the only way to travel for sure.

- Yeah, but it was worth paying for, speed to gain time, like...

- Hopefully it pays off. - Yeah.

- 11 hours on them. - It's good.

- We've done what we came here to do. - Yeah, it's good.

- Oh, we've got to get smarter at this.

- Yeah. - Every minute matters. - Yeah.

- We'll just walk behind them,

wait till they know where they're going, then we'll run.

- Hopefully, once we get off the ferry, we'll only be a few

minutes behind them.

Or in front if we outsmart them.

- Is this Koh Phi Phi?

Oh, yeah!

Ah!

- An archipelago of six islands - the tropical paradise of Koh Phi Phi,

the location of the fifth checkpoint.

- Come on, get me off this boat.

- Ready to run?

- STEPHEN CHUCKLES

TIMER BEEPS

- "Follow the yellow brick road through town to Bayview beach."

- Let's go!

- Give you a head start.

- Well, through town's going to be...

- Probably one of them two.

- Yeah, that says to a village.

Excuse me, which is the way to Bayview beach?

That way? Straight?

- Yellow brick road.

- It's this way.

- This way. - Isn't this yellow?

They've just run in front of us!

- Stephen and Viv are still behind us.

- Beep! Huppa! Thank you.

- Is this Bayview beach? Not sure. - Don't know.

Do you know if this is Bayview beach?

You have no idea.

- Excuse me, thank you.

- You with me? You with me?

No.

No.

- Bayview beach. - Bayview, Bayview?

- Do you know where that is? - No.

- They seem to be asking a lot more than us.

I'd say they're quite flustered.

If it comes down to a foot race, we know who's winning.

- There's a beach here.

- Oh, sick.

- Is this Bayview Beach?

- Yeah. - Yeah?

- Boys, ahead!

- Bayview beach.

Yeah, this is it.

- "Take a long-tail boat to Shark Point.

"Your checkpoint hotel awaits."

- Long-tail boat! - Long-tail boat! - Long-tail boat, please! Yeah?

- To Shark Point, yes? - Yeah.

- Shark Point. - I need change please.

- Where's yours? Where? Yes, come on. - Come on, quick, quick.

We're in a race. Quick, quick.

- Thank you so much. Let's go. - Yeah, let's go, let's go.

- Quickly, come on!

- Beat that team!

- Steve's helping him.

- Yeah, pull him in, Stephen, pull in. Quick.

- Oh, my God!

- BLEEP

- Oh, my God, they're gone.

- We're ahead.

- No!

- Let's just hope he's a quick driver.

- They're in our wake, so they're going to be a bit rough.

- Oh, we're not far behind.

- Fast, fast! - Yes, come on, come on! - To the hotel!

Hotel! - Shark Point!

- They've got a head start, but it's fine.

- That must be the hotel there. - That one or that one?

- TENSE MUSIC BUILDS

- Aaaargh!

- Sawasdee kha. - Hello. - Hello.

- Welcome Phi Phi island.

- Thank you. - Thank you. - Please sign in.

- Ready?

Ah! We're first! - What?!

- Oh, my God! No way!

- What?! Sick!

Oh, my God!

- I was so chuffed to see first place, weren't you?

- Yes, very. - But it's nice to know that, like, we can do it. - Yeah.

- Like, we've come from third to first.

It's like a nice little motivation,

I think, isn't it? - Yeah.

- Going forward into the next leg. - Hmm.

Obviously getting further into the race,

we're learning more about each other.

- Like, you're enjoying the experiences more... - Yeah, yeah.

- ..so it's not like I'm forcing him to experience things any more.

- No, that's true. - We would've never have found that

if we'd have not done this.

- They're closer than I thought, they cut that corner, you know.

- Yeah. - They're there behind us.

- There's two in the front of that one.

There's two behind as well.

- Oh, this is stressful.

- Right, get your bag on, darling, get your bag on.

- Shall we just jump?

- The boys are behind 'em! - Quick!

Come on, the boys are chasing you!

- BLEEP

- Run!

- Go, go, go!

Oh!

- I'm there, I'm there!

Hand on book! Hand on book? Quick!

Hey!

- SHE LAUGHS

- Yes! - Oh, God! Second! - Ah... - Ah!

- Ah... - Ah!

- We've let our lead slip and we shouldn't have done.

- Yeah. - And it's not much, but boys have caught how many hours?

- 11. - Wow. - Yeah.

Yeah, so it's anybody's race.

We just have to balance

buying time with how much it costs.

- If we'd have actually ran the foot race... - Yeah.

- ..we'd have absolutely trounced them, but I'm buzzing.

11 hours behind and now

we're 13 minutes behind. - Yeah.

- Last leg, we didn't want to race,

we wanted to experience.

Now that we've got back on track, we now need to make sure that

for the final three legs, we need to execute that balance properly.

- Yeah, exactly.

- Phew. Come on, Mum.

- Ah... - Oh, we're last.

- I'm disappointed that we're last,

but, having said that, I've really enjoyed spending time together.

Sometimes, as a parent, you think you're getting it wrong,

but I can actually see a light at the end of the tunnel now.

- Yeah, it's been nice to find a common ground.

I think priorities moving forward is speed and be more decisive.

- OK, it's not that bad, even though we're last,

it's literally minutes between us.

- This checkpoint has been unreal.

- Quite sad to leave Thailand, actually.

- We might have the most fun we've ever had since the start.

- We probably won't.

- This is really out in the country.

I'm actually getting to understand my daughter as an adult.

- There was 24 years or so of my life I think I was a more subdued me.

- TEARFUL: - I just feel like I'm letting James down.

- Bloody hell.

- DRIVER LAUGHS

ISABEL SCREAMS

- Oh, Isabel!

- LAUGHTER