Original subtitles

Kids' day out, we're going to go out and have some fun.

We've been craving the beach, haven't we?

Yeah. Craving, like, clear water.

Immortalised in the hit Leonardo DiCaprio movie The Beach...

Go! See ya!

..the coves and inlets of the Koh Phi Phi archipelago

offer an opportunity for the stresses and strains of the race

to drift away.

It's like paradise.

Yeah, it just feels like we're on holiday.

I hope the next leg has more of this.

If you can imagine a few weeks ago they didn't know each other.

When I was the kids' age, I was married and divorced,

so, totally different experience.

Completely different generation, as well. Yeah, hmm, yeah.

They're bonding over this race.

But then tomorrow that will have to be put aside for the next few days.

That's that, put aside again until the next checkpoint. Yes.

Having set the pace in the early legs,

Eugenie and Isabel are now two hours

behind new race leaders Betty and James.

It's sad we're last but I'm kind of raring to go now

and don't want to get too comfortable.

This is a race. It's not a holiday.

Good morning. Good morning. Thank you so much. Thank you.

For the first time,

Betty and James are first to learn where they're heading next.

Oh, God. Butterk... B... Bukittinggi.

Yeah, I've no idea.

We were first.

I don't think there's any reason now why we can't stay there.

I think we definitely have both had our moments

where one of us has had to, like, gee the other one up a bit more.

Getting further into the race we're learning more about each other.

I think growing up in kind of a really small village

has created this sense of wanderlust.

You know there's that kind of saying, isn't there,

that you go travelling to find yourself. But it's true.

Let's get the map out and then find

out where the hell this checkpoint is.

There. Is that that? Bukittinggi... Yes.

Indonesia's somewhere that I've always wanted to go.

Twice as big as the United Kingdom,

the rarely visited Indonesian island of Sumatra,

where the sixth checkpoint lies.

2,000 kilometres away,

the mountain-fringed city of Bukittinggi.

So, pretty much again straight south.

To get there, teams will need to travel through Malaysia -

the sixth country in the race.

But first they must say goodbye to Thailand.

They could opt to go back on themselves through Krabi

making use of cheap and frequent transport links

down the Malay Peninsula,

or choose to take the maritime route,

island hopping via Koh Lipe,

affording one last glimpse

of Thailand's famous white sand beaches.

# Ah, more beach! Hallelujah.

# Beach, beach, beach, beach. #

I mean, the other route sounds more straightforward.

I don't want go back to land now.

Yeah! We want to be on the beach.

And cos we are first, like... Yeah.

..we can afford, maybe we can afford to drop down one place.

If any leg to take that risk, it's now. Yeah.

Koh Lipe? Koh Lipe. Lipe.

It's very expensive.

Can you do it cheaper, please?

If it's something we really want to do,

sacrifices need to be made. Yeah.

With speedboat tickets costing over £80,

the siblings now have just a fifth of their budget remaining,

with more than a third of the race still to run.

Feeling like we have just spent a full leg's budget on the first day.

If we can get there and work,

at least we've earned that bit of money back.

I don't want to head inland yet, so I think we'll do the coastal route.

It's going to be beautiful. Yeah.

Also looking to island hop to Malaysia...

Koh Lipe, 9:30, how much?

..Stephen and Viv, with the healthiest budget of all the teams.

Whoa! It's a lot of money.

Any movement on the price?

We haven't got the money.

OK. All right. Viv, you've got to stop walking off!

We've been reining in the budget for the last couple of legs,

but last time if we'd splashed the extra thousand

and got the early ferry, we would've been coming in first.

Viv? Koh Lipe, yeah. Do you do old person rate? Viv? I'm a pensioner.

She's not listening.

I really don't want the same to happen again,

so where we think we can gain a fair chunk of time,

we need to take it -

and I'm quite happy to take responsibility for the finances.

That's the ticket to Koh Lipe.

Yeah. Up there somewhere. Yeah, lovely.

OFF-SCREEN:It will be an expensive leg,

but we've got a job working in a beach bar

and that, to me, is not a job, you know,

that is like enjoyment.

You've got your bee in your bonnet today, haven't you?

Yeah. I know. I'm on it, yeah, on it today.

We've dithered a bit in the previous leg

so I think we've just got to be decisive now.

Malaysia, know nothing about it at all.

So I don't have massively high hopes.

Leaving in third place...

I'm actually not looking forward to this leg.

Oh, it'll be fun, don't worry.

..in the last leg, Alfie and Owen managed to close

an 11 and a half hour gap.

Alfie's already on a bit of a downer.

We haven't even left yet.

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

Yeah. Like... We probably won't.

If he's going to be all doom and gloom

and not even make the effort to be open-minded, really,

I'm not going to waste my time, but I'm going to try and enjoy it.

I really want to go to Kuala Lumpur.

Go to, like, the Petronas Towers. I think that'd be pretty cool.

Yeah, OK. That's what I'm in favour of.

I'm kind of in favour of speed.

Yeah?

Whenever I'm telling someone about Alfie I'm always like,

"You just have to meet him to understand what he's really like."

Now that we've got back on track, if it were up to me,

we'd kind of just go in... Getting out.

Yeah, I know. ..getting out of here, yeah.

He doesn't have much of a filter on, he'll kind of just say whatever,

what's the first thing that came to his mind.

Island hop from Thailand into a sea border into Malaysia.

We've seen that there are boats that go directly into Malaysia.

So, I think we'll take one of those.

They plan to get to Malaysia today,

travelling one stop further than Koh Lipe to the island of Langkawi

in a bid to leave the rivals behind...

..but before then,

three teams are in the same boat.

We have two couples on our tail, quite literally.

Apart from Eugenie and Isabel.

At the back of the pack for the first time...

How's it feel to be back in Krabi, Mum?

Excited!

..Eugenie and Isabel.

We're last but we do need to not follow the pack.

Having reached the mainland, they're diverging from the others,

making their way to Malaysia on terra firma.

I think a lot of the other teams will be island hopping,

but it might mean that whilst they're waiting

for ferries or boats,

we're moving a lot further on land. We're still on the move.

There tends to be more buses than boats.

Last leg we regretted not working. Yeah.

In terms of the budget,

it's something that we're going to have to look at.

Do you want to look at the classifieds?

There's this one cleaning up boats.

No, I don't do...

I think this leg might be quite intense.

We're not very good with manual labour jobs,

but if we can earn money

then we could just splurge at the end when it counts.

Yeah, we need to know that, when it counts, that we've got the money.

Lovely organic rice farm. Yeah.

And we get to stay in a Malay thatched hut.

That's an experience in itself, I think. Yeah.

Last leg it was more about enjoyment

and this leg it's more about working hard.

This experience is for me to step out of my comfort zone

alongside Mum.

It's not about kind of getting halfway

and saying, "OK, well, it was a really good experience."

No, we're going to go all the way and win this race.

I think we've done really well so far today, don't you?

It's been, like, two hours.

As mother and daughter steel themselves for some hard graft...

..their rivals cross the Andaman Sea

to Thailand's southernmost island -

Koh Lipe.

Known as the Maldives of Thailand, those who stay here

face some of the highest prices in the region.

Oh we've got to pay a tax here, have we? Yeah. Bloody hell.

Two and a half... Jeez. That is expensive. Oh.

If we don't go anywhere, do we get our money back?

We're just working at the bar and then we'll...

The bar, and then boat. ..head off again.

Right, we need to find a boat but kind of subtly.

Langkawi? Langkawi.

We need accommodation, as well. Yeah, that's fine.

This island is just unreal.

Yeah, it's incredible.

I don't want to leave.

Plan is to get away from the other teams as quickly as possible.

To try to not make it obvious that we're getting on another boat.

OFF-SCREEN: OK, follow me. All right, let's go.

I really hope this will be the last time on the leg

that we see them now.

Get me to Malaysia.

As the best friends steal a march

across the Malaysian border to the island of Langkawi...

We need accommodation for tonight.

..back on Koh Lipe...

My husband'll say, "What the hell have you done?

What have you done?

Right, I've booked it for 600 for two of us.

It's nice. It's en-suite. Doesn't have to be nice, it has to be cheap.

It's en-suite. It has to be cheap. It's en-suite. It has to be cheap!

No. Nobody else is in the toilet. HE CHUCKLES

You're spending too much money today.

And 600.

My husband won't be pleased.

It's silly money. Absolutely silly money.

I think we've plumped for this too soon. No.

Should've gone and looked. No.

HE SIGHS

Less than 100 metres away...

Ugh!

They say find a job you love and you never work a day in your life.

..Betty and James attempt to release the pressure on their budget...

Ooh.

..by working at a diving school.

There you go.

Imagine a job that just allows you to stand in the sea.

1-7-4-1-1-0-0-5-5-5.

0-0-5-5-5. 23.

I honestly think that any job that requires me

to wear bare feet is the job for me.

This is what I crave every time I'm at home.

No, I know what you mean. Coming to these places. Koh Lipe.

Yeah. It's just a different life.

It is just, like, so much better.

I think it probably is like a bit of sense of...

..like, escapism.

But it's not like I'm escaping, like, my life at home.

But would I prefer a life like this? Yes, of course. Hmm.

And, like, when I'm here like a place like this

that I never want to leave. Hmm.

But you're going to hate some days here. Yeah.

You know, when it's not sunny.

Hmm. Or a day at work's shit.

Or you're ill or something like that.

There are always going to be shit days.

Yeah.

Right, shall we head for a swim? Yes.

Coming in on the boat

will come obviously with risks,

like, in terms of it could be a bit more expensive.

Island hopping's a little bit more complicated,

but I think to be honest, like, weighing up the feelings

that James and I are experiencing, like,

it's just priceless, really.

5:50pm.

Oh, my days.

Pretty cool. Pretty cool.

..Alfie and Owen are first to leave Thailand.

Home to one of the world's oldest rainforests,

Malaysia is a land of rich traditions

drawn from its Malay, Chinese, and Indian populations.

Country...six?

Six or seven.

The boys have docked at the island of Langkawi.

According to folklore,

its name derived from the red-backed eagle still found in its skies.

The archipelago's beauty means it has Unesco Geopark status...

..and Alfie and Owen have volunteered to help out

with a local environmental project.

In Malaysia, we'll eat using our...our hands.

Are you OK to eat with hands?

Yeah. Can do hands.

With the job starting in the morning

an opportunity to get to know their colleagues.

Thank you.

So Saoban here is our most senior.

If you are going into jungle, he's the expert. Ah, OK.

What animals do you have in the jungle?

The leopard.

Oh, really? We have the leopard.

I see only two times in my life.

That's amazing. No way. Python. Ooh.

The poison animal - only the cobra.

Right. Oh, exciting. See some snakes.

I think I had kind of a negative mindset

towards the leg this morning,

but quite excited.

The family that we're staying with are lovely.

They're welcoming.

Completely taken us in,

and they've put on an absolute feast for us tonight.

So, my wife, here, she is from the Borneo.

The Borneo. Oh, really?

How did you meet, if he was in Kuala Lumpur and you were in Borneo?

We meet on internet.

Ah. Tinder. Really?

No matter how much you talk to locals and things like that,

it's so rare that you get the opportunity

to come and experience it as if you're living it,

and that's a real privilege.

You're married yet, no?

Not yet.

What do you mean, "Not yet", like it's on the cards?

THEY LAUGH

Back in Thailand, as night falls on Koh Lipe...

Four small beers. Thank you.

..Stephen and Viv's bar shift is just beginning.

I'm really enjoying it.

Yeah, it's just, it's got a bit of a buzz about it.

It's quite an eye-opener, actually.

Just seeing the freedom that people have to travel these days.

I think in...when I was younger, it was never an option to do that.

I went through a phase where as an adult I didn't feel I had much fun.

But I was a bit naughty as a teenager, really.

Used to skip off school a bit, go to the park and smoke

and go and see if there were any boys there.

But then I became the wife and the mother,

and I had to set a good example for the children,

so, there was 24 years or so of my life

I think I was a little bit of a more subdued me.

One mojito.

I think I stepped up this morning with a little more force

than Stephen was expecting, actually,

and he kept saying to me,

"How much?" You know, "How much have you spent?"

But I just felt good,

I felt that I was carefree and footloose and fancy free

and I could just do what I wanted for a change, actually.

I slept really well last night. How did you sleep?

Hmm. It was so nice to wake up to this.

For Betty and James, a night on their boss's boat free of charge

aids their budget.

I think this job's done us good, really, hasn't it?

We kind of smashed it, actually, didn't we?

I definitely feel ready for the day.

Race head's going, "We've spent a lot of money."

I think, for the rest of this leg,

if we save as much money where we can, on accommodation, food...

Yeah.

Saying farewell to Thailand

the siblings head to the Malaysian island

of Langkawi.

I now feel like quite fiery about the race.

Bring it on.

Already there...

It's going all right. We're doing better than I expected.

We haven't fallen in yet, so...

..Alfie and Owen,

with a lengthy commute to work.

3km.

That is kind of far.

It's so amazing.

Seeing Malaysia in the light of day's a lot different to last night

where you couldn't really see anything.

In this race you can get, like, tunnel vision.

It's quite nice to just look around, really appreciate where we are.

I didn't really know what to expect from Malaysia or Langkawi,

in general, but scenery is absolutely amazing,

kayaking through.

Kubang Badak is home to a mangrove forest

covering more than four million square metres.

After years of decline,

the forest is expanding

thanks to a five year long campaign of planting.

OK, let's give it a go.

For one tree. For one tree and one tree, one metre.

Apart? Yeah.

Spearheading the project, lead naturalist Saoban.

You can hear the bird? It is called a brown wing kingfisher.

No mangrove tree, nothing.

No birds. No, nothing. No birds, no animal, no wildlife.

Right.

Oh, dear.

I've cocked this one up big time.

HE SIGHS

The mangrove trees' dense root systems trap sediment

and slow coastal erosion

as well as providing a sheltered habitat for wildlife.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. Hmm.

That was... that put it there? Yeah.

Oh.

Yeah.

Right.

Bosh. And one.

There's a lot more litter than I kind of expected.

Most of it is plastic bottles.

Must be frustrating for these guys

that so much rubbish gets washed up on the shores.

It's been nice to see the difference that we've made today,

like, I do really, really enjoy making a...making a difference

when I can see the difference.

I don't agree with tokenistic gestures,

I don't agree with going vegan for the sake of the world.

But, there's climate change on a worldwide scale

and then there's making a difference kind of locally.

Oh BLEEP.

We can't destroy the planet.

I feel like, you know, the planet's been around for billions of years,

it's seen much worse than...than humans.

It'll always bounce back, however, there is a chance we wouldn't.

You know, if everyone chips in a little bit it'll sure do something.

But the ferry that we want to catch is leaving in about 80 minutes,

so, it's kind of what's primarily on my mind now.

Still in Thailand...

I shall be quite sad to leave Thailand, actually.

I think young Viv might have embraced this lifestyle

of just being a bit of a beach bum and...

Yeah.

I've seen you in a bikini in those early photographs.

You had ringlets in your hair. Yeah, yeah.

And cigarette in your mouth. I can just see you on the beach here.

Yeah, yeah. I was a bit of a rebel in my youth.

We'd better make a move.

Langkawi. Langkawi. Langkawi.

Thank you.

We're the only people on this ferry.

Yes, probably in last position.

Bye, Langkawi. It's been short and sweet.

Ahead of them, Betty and James have reached Langkawi

and are setting sail once more, to the Malaysian mainland.

The boys! SHE LAUGHS

It's Betty and James.

For God's sake. We just need to get ahead of them tonight.

BETTY:Yesterday we got the lead.

Now we're, like, back in the same place.

Happy days.

As two teams leave neck and neck...

..arriving in their wake...

STEPHEN:We need to get off Langkawi this evening.

We could do with finding something out about where we're bloody going.

Do you know where we're going after this?

It'd be quite nice if we were able to make our way to George Town.

Ooh...

Why? It looks beautiful.

The guide did say that it's got one of the prettiest streets

in the world in it. Has it? Right.

Viv's plan - travel south

along the Malaysian coast,

then hop to the island of Penang...

..to enjoy the atmosphere of historical colonial city

George Town.

Getting into George Town tonight - pushing it isn't it?

And I think it's going to be quite tricky to get off this island...

Yeah. ..and then to get down to George Town.

Already sounds complicated.

My feeling is we need to skip George Town.

We're going to lose half a day just getting there and back.

I know. It's... Sometimes it's the pay-off

between experience and racing hard.

I know. And it just looks lovely.

Yeah, I quite fancy going there.

It's got one of the prettiest streets in the world in it.

Where's the cheapest, cheapest place to stay tonight?

I might be able to twist his arm, actually.

Thank you.

We'll see.

We're going out of the way,

cos we've got to spend money to get there.

Yeah, I think you're missing a trick there, though.

Which...? In what way?

In that it's got one of the 17th prettiest streets

in the world, apparently. Yeah.

How the hell do they decide?

You don't want to pass up the 17th prettiest street.

Well, uh, you know. Yeah, well, it's meant to be a beautiful place,

a nice island and everything else, isn't it?

Oh, glad you agree. I thought you were kind of, like, stuck on not...

..not going to George Town. No, not at all.

I'm trying to get it to flow, that's all.

Right, then. That's the goal.

80km away...

Let me serve for you. Ah, you don't need to!

No, you are my guest.

..Eugenie and Isabel have crossed the land border into Malaysia,

to reach a home stay they hope will help build

a war chest for later legs.

Get more. More? Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

In exchange for bed and board,

tomorrow they'll labour for rice farmer Captain Zachariah.

We thought the home stays would help us

to minimise the amount of money we spend on hotels.

Turns out we are kind of in the rainforest in the middle of nowhere.

There's frogs jumping everywhere.

But we'll have somewhere decent to stay.

We have more there.

Yeah? Yeah. Don't be shy. We won't be shy.

If you shy, you will hungry at the jungle.

EUGENIE LAUGHS

So where did you get the name Captain from?

My friend invite me as a captain for a ship.

OK. A luxury boat.

So that's why they call me captain.

Ah. Ah, OK. Clear? It is very clear.

No more question? Oh! SHE LAUGHS

After this... I've got lots of questions. OK.

How did you become a farmer? I thought, in my mind,

"I want to be a farmer like my dad, like my grandpa."

Ah, that's nice.

To supply food for the people. Yeah.

My dad, um, he's originally born in Jamaica.

So, his father, he cultivated land as well.

But my dad didn't take that on.

So he just decided to go to England.

He worked in a luggage factory in London.

Oh, there's my lovely dad in his youthful days.

I loved my daddy so much.

My dad was a hard worker, and he always talked to us

about making sure we had our heads in our books.

So I remember when I was in secondary school,

my name was called on the tannoy to go the headmistress's office.

And they were, "Ooh! You're in trouble!

"Why are you being called?"

So, um, I went to the office.

My dad was sitting there with the headmistress.

She said, "Your father said that you're bored when you're at school,"

and that's one of the indicators

a child is not actually meeting their potential.

And, of course, my dad's sitting there just looking at me like this.

What choice did I have?

I had to go to the top set.

So, in terms of the influence on my family,

it was that education is very important.

That's been instilled with me from the day dot.

I don't think I express enough how, like, appreciative I am.

You obviously worked hard to send me to the private school.

Making sure we had all of those doors open. Mm.

How about you? Your parents, like, what your parent do?

Mum's a teacher.

Is your mum?! Yeah! ISABEL LAUGHS

Ay-ay-ay-ah!

No woman no cry.

THEY LAUGH

I didn't know!

The two of us are starting to understand each other a bit better.

Yeah, it just feels quite positive.

Goodnight! Sleep like a baby, OK?

We will. Will do.

Oh, God, is that a spider?

There's bugs inside the net.

How's that possible?

ISABEL SCREAMS

Oh, Isabel!

Stop it! Get off!

THEY LAUGH

Where are you going?! THEY LAUGH

Can we just stay in a hotel nearby?

No, we're not!

Thank you. To the south...

Are you a taxi driver?

..two more teams have reached mainland Malaysia.

Come on, Jimbo!

OK, let's go.

Do you think we should head straight for the bus station?

We'd have to get a taxi or something.

Alfie and Owen aim to leave their rivals behind

by catching an overnight bus 440km further south to the capital.

We lost Betty and James.

20 ringgit?

I don't understand what you're saying, sir.

BOTH: One person?

20 ringgit. Per person? No.

25. That's fine. Not one person.

So far - really, really happy.

We're moving with incredible speed.

We need ticket. Kuala Lumpur, please.

Now we're ready to head to Kuala Lumpur

without paying for accommodation this evening, so, feeling good.

Thank you so much.

Done so well. Yes!

It's very, very hard to explain

the dramatic change in life from the race.

You know, it's not just, like, a new job,

it's not like a new hobby.

This is a new life.

In the heart of the Klang Valley,

Malaysia's capital.

Its rapid growth driven by an economic boom

at the end of the 20th century,

fuelled by vast oil and gas reserves...

..and exemplified by the Petronas Towers.

Once the world's tallest buildings,

the design is based on the Islamic eight-pointed star.

HORNS HONK

I want to go see the Petronas Towers.

OK.

We need to drop our bags, ideally.

Well, bags have gone.

Cool. Right, let's get out of here.

My first impressions are how modern it is,

also kind of how westernised it is.

I like being where everything's happening, where everyone is.

Seeing the tower in real life is really cool, you know?

Not just the tower here

but all the surrounding buildings in this area's actually really nice.

I'd like to come back here.

I feel like it's got so much more to offer than what we've seen.

If I do become a pilot in the future,

which hopefully I'll get there,

then I'll be able to do stuff like this all the time.

I know exactly what I want to do in life.

I'm hoping to become a commercial pilot.

It was definitely a liberating experience,

flying for the first time.

It's a sense of freedom you don't get, really, anywhere else.

School version of Owen was a permanent rock of anxiety,

but as soon as he got with his pilot things,

he started to just come out of his shell.

He's so much happier and, yeah, I'm really, really proud of him.

We're going to sound really sad when I say this.

One of our favourite activities is plane spotting at Luton airport.

That is true. That is quite fun.

That's pretty big.

It's a massive champagne glass with a duck on top. What?!

460km north...

..Eugenie and Isabel's plan to work in Malaysia is under way,

weeding by hand to maximise the rice yield and to control pests.

I'm stuck! SHE LAUGHS

You're actually doing well.

I thought you'd be a bit freaky with this. Yeah, OK.

Cos whilst I'm in here, there's all kinds of stuff in here

skating along on top of the water, over the water.

I can hear what you're saying.

There's one thing here, and I'm not sure if it's some kind of nest.

Yeah, OK, mum.

OK. No comment, again.

No more comment, sorry.

Oh, there's something on me!

Oh!

I don't know what that was. That felt weird.

See, Isabel is not scared of hard work,

but this environment is really testing her resilience.

The next place that we are planning on going

will be another home stay on a farm.

Can we suck it up one more night?

I can do it if we have to.

And there's going to be more bugs and insects at the farm,

but just don't highlight them to me, please.

Don't mention anything? No.

I can't say no to Mum about the farm thing.

I think because we have a plan...

I don't like not sticking to a plan, if I'm honest.

Undeterred, mother and daughter are heading 140km

to the city of Ipoh for more work.

Oh, g... SHE GROANS

SHE LAUGHS

We wouldn't be doing this if we didn't want to win, all right?

In Kuala Lumpur...

Look how busy it is.

..Alfie and Owen are on the move...

So we need to get the ferry from Melaka port.

..with a new goal in their sights -

150km away, the port of Melaka.

All teams will need to catch a ferry

from there to the Indonesian island of Sumatra

to make their way to the sixth checkpoint.

Is there any way you could find out what times the ferry

leave from Melaka? Ferry from Melaka to...? To Indonesia.

Usually two ferries depart every day,

but tomorrow there's just one running -

at nine in the morning.

To have a chance of making it, the boys need to board an overnight bus.

The best option for us is the bus.

So if we could get one tonight, that'd be great.

We need to get our bags and then go to the bus terminal.

TOUCH-SCREEN BEEPS

What?!

Oh, don't do this to me.

TOUCH-SCREEN BEEPS

OK. Well, that's...

It's not working.

I don't... I don't know, something went wrong in the system

or we've put in the wrong number. I don't... I don't know.

I don't know. How does it go wrong?

Oh, for God... We're going to miss this bloody...

Yeah, I know we are.

It's not open, is it?

Stupid locker!

Oi, what? It says it's available.

What?! We got it open this morning, then we put the number in twice.

And then I opened it,

I can't remember why I opened it but I opened it for a reason

and then shut it again.

Single use...

What does that mean? So you can only open it once.

So now we've got to pay. It's saying it's... Are you sure?

Yeah, we just need to get it out.

18 quid on bloody baggage.

Of course this happens to us.

Oh! That is a pain in the arse.

OWEN LAUGHS

If we get on this bus it's an absolute miracle.

To the north...

This doesn't usually happen, this is luxury treatment.

Make the most out of it.

Very gentleman. I know!

THEY LAUGH

..Betty and James have stopped in the coastal village

of Bagan Sungai Burong.

Say hello. Hello! Hello.

So beautiful.

Tomorrow morning they'll be deck hands for fisherman Toxi,

while tonight they get to enjoy some local hospitality.

Hi! It smells so nice.

Yeah, it does smell nice.

Busy cooking.

It's coming to the end, and Malaysia might be quite short-lived,

really, and I think really the best way to see

what Malaysia has to offer is live like a local for a day.

Where's my bumbag?

Oh, my God - I think I left it on the bus.

The passports in there?

QUIETLY:Shit.

Yeah, they are.

Oh, BLEEP.

I want to go check the car just in case.

Um, I think I left my bumbag on the bus.

It's got our passports in it. Not there.

Without their passports,

Betty and James won't be able to enter Indonesia...

..threatening an abrupt end to the race.

Doesn't look like they're here.

Anywhere else you think you could've put them?

No, it's in... It's on the bus. On the bus?

It was going back to Ipoh.

FAMILY CHAT IN MALAY

We've got a bit of a situation. Mm?

Is there any way to ring Ipoh bus station? Why?

To see if there was a bag left on the bus that we got.

A bag? Yeah. Yeah, and it has our passports in it. OK.

In the bus? Yeah.

Oh. That's very...bad.

They're enlisting the help of Toxi's family friend Suchiya.

The terminal where we bought them was Ipoh Meru Rama.

It's a North Face bag.

The bag, it's black.

And it's... This is on the front.

Thank you very much. OK.

SUCHIYA SPEAKS MALAY

Gutted, heartbreak to lose it, but...

..obviously we do it as a team, like. It's a team thing.

Oh, BLEEP.

OK? BLEEP

Let's go eat.

FAMILY SPEAK MALAY

Can you apologise to everyone for us being late?

It's OK, they understand.

We've done all we can.

It's just a matter of waiting.

There's a guy standing here.

Shall we go and ask him?

I've got this.

250km north...

Well, we're looking for Kek Chuan Street.

..Stephen and Viv are on the hunt for a local landmark.

Apparently it's the 17th most beautiful street in the world.

It's quite far, a bit far.

How far?

Jalan Magazine.

This is Jalan... so she said straight on.

I wouldn't say that's the 17th prettiest, would you?

Oh, yeah, that's not the...

It is... Seck. Oh, it's KEK Chuan. Yeah.

No, straight on, this is not it.

I don't want to walk for... For hours to get there.

Wild goose chase.

All over the place.

Got lost, couldn't find it, came back, sulked.

Now, that looks pretty.

There's some murals.

Oh, wow!

It's just such a mix of dilapidated, and then beautiful.

And then beautifully preserved. Yeah. Yeah.

The world's 17th prettiest street may have eluded them,

but George Town's colonial architecture

and burgeoning street art scene...

That... That's really elegant, that. I like that one.

That is, isn't it, yeah?

..have cast their spell.

I like the feel that, um, George Town has. I like the vibe.

This was Viv's choice,

this was a bit out of our way...

Look at this. Ooh, I say.

Isn't that lovely? Oh, that's stunning.

..but, actually, really enjoyed it.

I felt relaxed. Been a cracking day.

That's proper art. It is.

Someone's taken time.

I'm absolutely fine with Viv taking control.

She's good at it.

It's lovely to see a smile on her face.

It's genuinely been worth it,

as long as it doesn't put us out of the race.

That was a nice evening. Really lovely stroll.

Lovely evening. Yeah.

When I get home I just have to Google that street

and see what I missed.

JAMES:So peaceful out here.

What we wanted from the start was, what?

Beach, sea, chill, calm, peaceful.

And it's beautiful.

After a restless night,

an early start for Betty and James on Toxi's fishing boat...

..their missing passports on their tired minds.

I have felt like utter shit.

Potentially we are going home

because I didn't do the good old double check.

It's quite tiring, innit?

I think, at least for James, like, he would be able to look back

and say, like, he made the most out of, like, every situation,

but, like, that's just not really the person I am.

Like, we're clearly very, very different in that sense.

Yeah. Yeah!

My arms are killing me!

I think above anything else, like, I just feel...

..like I'm letting James down.

I'm sorry by the way I've, like, dealt with this situation.

Why? Cos I've just been shit.

It's all right. It is shit, though, isn't it?

No, I know but I've just dealt with it really shit.

Yeah, but I...I know how you were going to deal with it, and...

SHE CHUCKLES DRILY I said at the time.

CHILD CHATTERS

And we don't want to sit around and mope about it.

It's sort of in the hands of other people now.

Just try and keep our minds off it.

While Betty and James have no choice but to sit tight

and await any news...

Chewing? Mm!

BETTY LAUGHS

Ooh, that's heavy.

To the north, in Ipoh,

Eugenie and Isabel roll up their sleeves once again.

Got it? Oh!

THEY LAUGH

This region is known for its pomelos,

the largest of all citrus fruits.

Oh, that's nice.

OK, Mum. What? Sharing.

Weighing up to 11 kilos and widely eaten during Chinese New Year...

There. Phew! There, well done.

..they're a symbol of good fortune.

This is kind of hard work, I guess, but there's not as many bugs

as I was expecting so I actually feel like I can get stuck in.

Oh, my God!

Oh...

Is it poo? MAN:Yeah.

Poo-poo.

It's the poo I just want the poo off.

This leg, we've done two physical jobs.

It's a lot harder than I thought it was going to be.

But it's felt worth it to save a bit of money.

Mum and I are competitive, we want to win.

We've got two legs left. We're almost there.

OWEN:Oh, Melaka!

Having managed to catch their overnight bus,

Alfie and Owen have reached the port of Melaka.

First established as a strategic trading link

between east and west,

today the city gives its name to the world's second

busiest shipping route, the Melaka Strait...

..which the boys hope to cross today.

After this you go to Indonesia? Yeah. Oh.

Is it nice?

I never been there before.

It's the first time I literally don't know

what to expect from a place.

I think our world is going to be turned upside down.

Can we have two tickets, please?

SHE SPEAKS MALAY Two tickets.

On the other side, the port of Dumai -

gateway to the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

Bukittinggi, it's on the west side, isn't it?

If it's the sixth biggest island in the world

then it will take us a hot sec to get there.

Let's think about it logically, right?

Nobody else is here, this is the only ferry that operates today.

So unless someone miraculously crossed yesterday,

we're 24 hours ahead. Technically, yeah. Yes!

With Alfie and Owen pulling ahead...

..behind them the race is on for the other teams to make it to Melaka.

The job is done today.

OK, thank you. Thank you.

Mum, come on.

We're bobbing and weaving and making our way through this race,

but the fact is we're in it to win it,

so we've just got to push through.

So this is direct to Melaka? Yeah. Oh, perfect.

VIV:Can you tell me, is there a bus direct from George Town to Melaka?

500km from the ferry terminal...

..Stephen and Viv have the longest way to go.

We've really enjoyed George Town,

but the whole process of getting here didn't work for us at all.

We need to get there quickly, really.

Right. Come on, then. Off we go.

BETTY LAUGHS

Your call. Oh, thank you.

PHONE: Hello, Bettini.

Oh, hi. Ah, so...

So, uh, the driver just called, uh...

You need to go back to the bus station and, uh...

Hi, can you still hear me?

PHONE CUTS OFF, BETTY SIGHS

Mad. Jesus Christ.

Oh!

Yeah, we're not on a plane home yet, so that's good.

HE LAUGHS DRILY

Hopefully it's still there.

It was, um...

It was one of these buses.

The Transnational, yeah. One of these. The Transnational one.

Go! Run!

Aah!

You check first, yeah? Oh!

You check, you check.

You check. Let me check.

OK? It's OK. Ah!

Thank you so much. Ah!

Oh!

BLEEPidiot. Thank you.

OK, OK. Thank you very much. OK. Ah.

Oh, I'm so happy!

From now on out I will be enjoying every moment,

cos you don't actually know when it's going to come to an end.

And if I don't, I'm going to give James permission

to slap me round the face or something with my passport.

And remind me of this moment.

Unfortunately I do think we're a bit lagging behind now.

Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you for everything.

We're back, we're going again. We're back.

It definitely feels like we've got, like, a bit of a firecracker

up our bums again to, like, get moving.

On the other side of the Melaka Strait...

This place is absolutely nuts. Let's go!

..Alfie and Owen enter the seventh country in the race...

Excuse me.

Taxi? Taxi?

..Indonesia.

The largest archipelago in the world,

with more than 100 active volcanoes

and over a quarter of a billion people.

Taxi?

Oh, my God!

To reach the sixth checkpoint in Bukittinggi,

they need to travel 370km across Sumatra...

..an island largely ignored by tourists

but home to 60 million inhabitants

and 52 languages.

TYRES SQUEAL

Bloody hell.

We have money, yes. We've got money. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You know where to go? Bukittinggi.

Bukittinggi. Yeah. OK, hold on.

Big bus station, yeah? Yeah. OK. Well, that's reassuring.

I don't know how we ended up in here, but...

This is so random.

This is not going to be a big bus station.

This is going to be a shack at the side of the road, I'm going to say.

Don't tell me... Don't tell me... Bus.

BLEEP Right.

OK, this is fine. Yeah, no. Bus.

Yeah, it's fine. This is as good as it could've got.

OK? Yep. Yes. This bus.

OK. OK.

Just let's check the time.

Uh, what time is the bus? Seven o'clock.

Tonight? Is that in...? So it'll go to... Go to Bukittinggi.

Bukittinggi. Tonight? In five hours? Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. OK.

An encouraging start to their time on Sumatra -

an overnight bus direct to Bukittinggi.

Yes!

I'm not really bothered

about being about somewhere less developed, to be honest.

You know, people still have buses out here,

they still live lives.

Like I think it's kind of easy to forget

that just because it doesn't look as nice,

doesn't always mean it's not as good.

I'm absolutely starving. Where's a shop?

Shop, supermarket?

Food, food. Food, food. Shop.

Shop, yeah.

Don't know, uh...

Or a mart?

This is a literal whole new world.

EUGENIE:Lovely. Thank you very, very much. Thank you.

Eugenie and Isabel are the second team to arrive in Melaka,

but will have to wait until tomorrow morning to catch the ferry.

We're exhausted.

The whole leg, it's just been very difficult.

I feel like we're a lot closer to building up our budget

but, I don't know, it just feels like we've faffed around Malaysia

and particularly cos I reckon the others

might have taken the sea route,

I think we're significantly slower than them.

Is there a lift? Lift. Lift.

ELEVATOR MUZAK PLAYS

After grafting their way through Malaysia,

they have the consolation of a hotel bed...

Oh, stop. BELL RINGS

Oh! You just...

BELL RINGS

Mum, we're stuck in the lift.

..if they can reach it.

Just stop pressing buttons for a minute.

I get claustrophobic. Oh, my God!

Mum, it's not going to open. You see...? It's not.

Oh...

THEY KNOCK ON LIFT DOOR

Help!

Ticket counter. Ticket counter.

I can just see through that window there.

Find ferry times to Sumatra.

Hi. Hello. When's the next ferry?

Are there...? Are there lots of tickets available?

Hello! There's Eugenie and Isabel.

Oh, you're kidding me!

Well, the ferry's full, apparently, till tomorrow, I think.

Don't you say it!

Yeah. We just... We just bought the last ticket.

ISABEL:Can we have two tickets, please? One way.

So, seen Stephen and Viv, which is a good thing cos it...

I think it means we're not last.

Actually suddenly seeing the team again you go, "Oh, God!" Yeah.

The island-hopping route just put us back a little bit.

Competition has heated up again. It motivates us, doesn't it?

Two more teams set sail for Sumatra.

Already there,

Alfie and Owen cross the equator to enter the southern hemisphere.

OWEN:Time on this bus has not been great.

I'd probably go as far to say it has been the worst bus we've been on.

Someone brought on their own chair.

I've never seen a bus where you bring your own chair.

It's just...

Oh, Owen's now sat on said chair!

That's ridiculous. Ridiculous.

I would stick my neck out and say

I am fairly confident that we're first.

I'm pretty confident.

BETTY:Goodbye, Malaysia!

Last to leave Malaysia...

FERRY HORN HONKS

..Betty and James manage to catch today's second ferry...

We're hoping we could write a sign to ask people to help us.

..four hours behind their nearest rivals.

Go.

BETTY GIGGLES NERVOUSLY

It's OK. Stay composed. Argh!

I actually felt like I had to do something

to make up for the fact we were delayed,

because I lost the passports,

and I feel like I just need to come up with something

that was going to project us into the race still.

Yeah? Hmm. Bukittinggi?

So, there's actually direct buses to Bukittinggi.

The sign's worked. He just read the sign and helped us.

ALFIE:Here we go!

Bukittinggi time.

Watched over by Sumatra's most active volcano, Mount Merapi...

..Bukittinggi translates as "high hill".

Its strategic position exploited as a Dutch colonial stronghold,

still evident today in its architecture.

Owen, we're moving.

Is your bag ever so slightly damp?

GPS TRACKER BEEPS

"Take an angkot mersi to Janjang 40."

Angkot mersi to Janjang 40.

I don't know what either of those two things are.

Excuse me. Angkot mersi? Angkot mersi?

Mersi. Mersi.

HORN BEEPS Oh, my God, that's so cool!

TYRES SQUEAL

It is just a tuk-tuk with a roof on.

He's just also ran a red light, which I'm...

..to be honest, I'm brutally in favour of.

To reach the checkpoint...

So, "proceed up the stairs to find the clocktower." Up here?

..called the Janjang 40,

but more like 100 steps.

Oh, my God!

Are you going two at a time?!

Yeah. Oh, my God! My legs aren't that long.

So out of breath.

Where the hell is the clock tower?

Is it that there?

Oh, there. Perfect.

At the centre of Bukittinggi, the Jam Gadang clocktower,

built during Dutch rule, but nowadays the call to prayer

that marks the breaking of the fast of Ramadan is sounded from here.

GPS TRACKER BEEPS

"By any means possible proceed to Menara Panorama.

"Don't look the monkeys in the eyes."

HE LAUGHS Let's find us some monkeys.

ISABEL:Wow, this is not what I was expecting. Look at this.

370km behind...

STEPHEN:Very hot. Yeah. Drier, dirtier.

..two more teams land in Sumatra...

The impression I get is it's not that...what can I say? High-tech?

I like this place, though.

This is in the depths of the country.

..in search of transport to the checkpoint.

Bus to Bukittinggi? Bus to Bukittinggi, Pekanbaru...

OK. Pekanbaru, Bukittinggi. OK, got it.

This will leave in 15 minutes?

But, yeah, that's fine.

I just want to see what's round there,

cos it looks like there might be another bus ticket sales office.

Oh, my goodness! There's Eugenie and Isabel.

Can you wait two minutes?

Stephen!

I've found a bus going now.

Right, OK. Yeah. They're waiting, the bus is going.

Oh! Thank you. There's one more.

Stephen, 18, 19.

Seat 89. Thank you, thank you. Very quick.

THEY BOTH EXHALE

Now all of a sudden we're racing around everywhere

like blue-arsed flies.

Unlike Alfie and Owen's bus, this one terminates at Pekanbaru -

210km short of Bukittinggi.

ISABEL:I'm a bit annoyed that they've turned up now.

I just wanted to get ahead of them slightly.

For God's sake!

That way?

That's someone's house, so...

Shall we go down there?

Oh! No, cos it was... It was there.

Shall we go round this way, then?

Monkey straight ahead.

OK, there's quite a few of them now.

That is a drop and a half. Yeah.

At 900 metres above sea level,

it is possible to spy out the checkpoint hotel.

GPS TRACKER BEEPS

"Below is Padi Ecolodge...

"..the building with the gadang-style roof."

So how the hell...

Do we get down there? ..do we get down there?

That looks like it does go all the way down.

They couldn't have made these stairs any slippier if they tried.

Oh, my days!

Could do with Eugenie's sticks.

Yeah, I know.

Oh wait, Padi Ecolodge.

I think it's through the field.

Oh, yeah. Maybe we go through here.

Got to be these buildings here, right?

"Check-in this way." Yeah let's go. Yeah, go on, then.

Hello.

Three, two, one...

..excellent. Lovely.

Nice one. Yes! Well done.

And nobody else was on the ferry. No. So...

We're quite far ahead, yeah.

We've absolutely smashed this leg.

We haven't made any mistakes on this leg. Not this...

I can't think of anything. My first impressions of the leg

were that it wasn't going to be what I was hoping for.

I certainly got proven wrong.

I've really, really enjoyed Malaysia, to be fair.

Yeah, I think Kuala Lumpur was definitely, like, a favourite part.

Having that good experience and also making some seriously good ground.

To, have an 18 hour, 24 hour lead going into leg seven...

That's big. ..is crazy. It's big.

It's going to put the others under so much pressure.

ISABEL:Do you go to Bukittinggi? Yeah, Bukittinggi, yeah.

What time?

THEY SPEAKS INDONESIAN

Where have they gone?!

In Pekanbaru, the hunt is on for a connection to Bukittinggi.

Bukittinggi? Bukittinggi?

I doubt there's anyone there.

You want to Bukittinggi?

Yes, yes. Yes.

If you call by telephone, the bus come.

It's weird, it's like...

..when you want a bus, someone calls someone and they head...

Head your way. I think it just comes here when it gets here.

We're putting all our eggs in one basket, do you know that?

We are. Smile and hope for the best.

Bukittinggi? Bukittinggi? Bukittinggi? Bukittinggi?

I saw them getting on the bus so I just thought,

"Oh," you know, "we can't be left behind."

SHE KNOCKS ON THE SHUTTERS

Bukittinggi?

Maybe that might not be the best decision.

Ooh! Hello!

Bukittinggi?

Oh, sorry, have you been asleep?

Are you Bukittinggi minibus? Yes.

Ah! Oh!

How much? When are you going?

Tickets may be booked, but Sumatran timetables are not an exact science.

Do you know what?

It doesn't feel like we're in a race any more.

Ooh!

What is it? That's coffee?!

Yes, yes. Coffee.

MAN: Coffee bubble, coffee bubble.

STEPHEN SPLUTTERS, OTHERS LAUGH

Strong!

Just got this feeling that we're going to be competing

against Stephen and Viv when we get off the bus.

Bottom line is, it's going to be close,

and it's going to be close by minutes.

VIV:The caffeine hasn't worn off yet, has it?

SHE CHUCKLES

With two teams standing still...

BETTY:I am actually so happy we got on a direct bus.

Yeah, that's true. Because trying to make connections and stuff,

I think's going to be really hard here.

..Betty and James close in on an 11 hour overnight bus

straight to the checkpoint.

Essentially a musical shed on wheels, yeah.

SHE CHUCKLES

It's a story, it's a journey. And we're so grateful to be here.

All right. Well, I'm going to get some sleep, I reckon.

I'll just move this bike out the way first.

BETTY LAUGHS

We are in a race against some other people.

If anyone comes through tomorrow, charge them millions.

Penultimate leg, it's where everything matters.

This is testing the comfort zone to its absolute limit.

STEPHEN EXHALES

We need to catch up on Alfie and Owen. Yes.

The process took a while

because the driver's friend's car keys were locked!

You couldn't write this, Isabel!

SHE LAUGHS

Just felt, like, at 16, like,

something was taken away from you that I couldn't control.

Brave's now probably an understatement.

Stop! Stop, stop, stop!

He BLEEPblew me a kiss. Are you BLEEPkidding?!