Original subtitles

Go on, Isabel!

Come on, Viv.

Looking for the Padi Ecolodge.

That way? Thank you.

Careful. Slippy, slippy, slippy.

Ah! Knew that would happen.

Argh.

Oh, they're down there.

There it is. "Three minutes' walk to paradise."

Where is it?

The front of that sign said "Three minutes' walk to paradise."

Oh, OK.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, which way?

Mum, it's up here.

Heading into the sixth checkpoint...

Down here. We're still in the lead.

..two teams are neck-and-neck,

battling each other for second place.

Flipping Nora!

Mum, Mum, quick, quick, quick, speed up.

Oh, it's in here.

Where's reception? I don't think it's that way, darling.

It's down here. Ah!

Go on, Isabel! Stephen, this way, now.

Oh, Mum, come on!

Come on, darling, come on.

There's the book, darling. Come on.

Mum! Come... SHE SIGHS

Oh!

Oh.

Nearly a day behind Alfie and Owen.

They're going to be difficult to beat, I think.

This is so different to even the centre of like Bukittinggi.

Yeah. Completely different world to where we are now.

Those roads, man, they were... Yeah, I know.

They were actually... Ridiculous? ..ridiculous.

Where are the others, then?

All I know is that they're not here.

We're third. They got here in the morning. Look.

Who did? Yesterday morning. Alfie and Owen.

By the book, we're third place but, as far as we're concerned,

we're second place. We were right behind them.

Well done, team.

Well done there.

The biggest concern with Alfie and Owen is,

23 hours is quite a lot, particularly because we know

transport doesn't seem to be running that frequently here as well.

Argh!

This is obviously off the backpacker route.

I think Sumatra is going to be a bit of an eye-opener, actually.

Yeah.

After the race nearly came to an abrupt end in Malaysia...

Hello!

..Betty and James are last to arrive.

Yeah. Expected. It's fine, that's fine.

Obviously, a bit of a shame cos we could've been up there with them

but... Mm. ..fate had other ideas.

For me, definitely liked getting the passports back.

It was like another lifeline, really.

Having started the previous leg in first place,

the siblings are now over 24 hours behind clear leaders Alfie and Owen.

# ALL: Happy birthday, dear Owen

# Happy birthday to you. #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Seven billion people on this planet

and you're the weirdo I chose as a best friend.

Ah! That sounds about, that sounds about right.

Come here, mate. Come here.

Cheers, mate.

Alfie and Owen depart at sunrise,

so all of the teams are celebrating Owen's 21st birthday a day early.

Just want to say that, in Indonesia, it is very, very common for this...

Oh!

..to happen.

LAUGHTER

Oh, I'm getting out of here.

Happy birthday to me!

Good morning. Hello. Good morning.

Check out, please. This is for you.

Go on, it's your birthday. You can do this one.

Thank you.

"Your seventh checkpoint is Jakarta."

Well, we... Right, OK. ..sort of know where that is.

The final checkpoint before the finish line -

Indonesia's sprawling capital, Jakarta,

1,300 kilometres away, on the neighbouring island of Java,

It's the penultimate leg. It's where everything matters,

but I feel like we know what we're doing.

You know, we're, we're pretty good at this now.

This is number seven.

Quite probably the hardest.

To get there, the teams will need to navigate the length of Sumatra.

This populous island with almost 60 million inhabitants

has a rich Muslim identity

but also remains one of the wildest and most unexplored places on Earth,

covered with dense rainforest,

sheltering rare and endangered wildlife.

Ultimately, the gap that you have going into leg eight

is what puts you in good stead to win.

We're just going to have to suck up the shocking transport

and the wildlife and just try and embrace what's around here.

Right. Sort this out.

I don't know where to begin. No, I don't know where to begin.

The major cities lie in the interior,

but routes between them can be sketchy.

Or teams could take a punt on hugging

the jagged southern coastline.

Either way, getting to the port of Bakauheni,

the gateway to Java, won't be easy.

They must contend with a piecemeal transport system,

limited accommodation options,

and virtually zero English spoken.

There is one road that just goes right down the coast.

For once, heading into the centre might actually be

the riskier option.

You know, we've only seen a snippet of what Sumatra's like.

We were in a shoddy bus, the roads were awful.

And we're near the coast, as we are now.

Yeah, so... It's... Are there any points to head to?

Yeah. There's a couple.

Pull in nets, sort the fish and scrub the decks

for a home stay and a meal. I've never fished before.

I have fished before and I promised myself that I'd never do it again.

But I need to just get on with it

because it will save money on accommodation,

which is going to be helpful for us in case we want to go in a taxi...

Yeah. ..in the next two legs or something.

Starting with a 90-kilometre journey to the port of Padang,

where they aim to pick up work with a local fisherman,

Alfie and Owen are planning to chance the roads

along Sumatra's southern coast.

Right, let's go. Let's go, man.

I think we have elements of us that are very much 20 years old.

Most Friday nights and Saturday nights we'll be out,

and things like that. We're not, like, at home reading a book,

kind of situation.

But when it's time to get serious, I think we're a lot more driven

than perhaps other people our age.

Padang.

I want to prove that our friendship can win this race.

This morning couldn't have really gone any better, could it?

Not so far, no.

Straight to Padang. Noodles.

Fed.

Excellent.

Buzzing.

Whilst the boys are already on the move...

Blow bubbles? Yes.

And then drink.

OK.

..their rivals can't progress until tomorrow.

I've lain in bed awake at night trying to analyse

what we've been doing.

What have been our strengths?

And I cannot find a single common thread.

I'm just a bit worried about the next few days, actually.

We enjoy the all-inclusive,

we've been cruising a few times.

We do like being looked after and pampered a lot.

Hot stones and oils.

The reality is it's going to be very different while we're on the race.

We'll have to try and make ourselves understood. Yeah.

Try and get as much help as we can.

We'll either hate it... Yeah.

..or...or we'll get the bug.

Getting about in Sumatra is going to be difficult.

We're going to have to think outside the box,

in terms of catching up on the boys.

Our budget is... It's low, isn't it?

It's low.

But I don't think anyone's got, like, a healthy budget right now.

I'd be surprised.

We've got lots of money at this stage, haven't we?

Yeah, a lot more than we thought.

If we need to pay a little bit more, we'll pay a little bit more.

Yeah. Cos we've got it. Yeah.

As they hunt down the leaders,

the pursuing teams must control their budgets.

Betty and James are close to a financial precipice

with just over £260 to get them to the finish line.

We're going to have to work for a bit of cash, I think.

We're going to have to, yeah. Yeah.

Um, would you happen to know where this is?

HE EXPLAINS

That way. All right. OK.

Alfie and Owen have arrived at the coastal city of Padang...

..a melting pot of Javanese, Minangkabau and Chinese cultures

that boasts a world-famous cuisine, including beef rendang curry.

Hello. Hello. Bengkulu?

Bengkulu? Yes.

Tomorrow? Tomorrow, yes. What time?

11.15 AM. AM. Shit.

The boys are focused on a way out of town

for when their shift is over tomorrow morning.

Is this the only bus? One bus. OK.

How many hours? 18 hours.

18!

Shit! Right, it's a long way away.

It's 18 hours on the bus.

I'm not mentally prepared for an 18-hour bus after fishing!

They want to catch the only bus of the day along the coast to Bengkulu,

even though their early morning job will make the timing tight.

We tell him the situation tonight...

I'm sure we can strike a compromise. I'm sure we can strike a compromise.

Yeah. We have to get on this bus. But we do have to get on the bus

cos otherwise we are stuck here. We have to get on that bus.

Mr Boyung. Yeah.

You're Mr Boyung? Boyung.

Mr Boyung and his extended family run

a flotilla of small fishing boats in the bay of Padang.

Any English or no?

No. No English.

OK. Good start. Right. OK.

So, tomorrow...

Tomorrow we fish...

..at six.

Until when? Yes.

What time finish?

Go on, just draw a clock or something. Just...

There we go.

OK.

So, ten o'clock, can we stop so we can get a bus at 11.30?

OK. That will do.

We have an agreement. Yes.

And when we swim back to shore tomorrow,

he can't be offended. Yeah. Yeah.

Ronaldo. Ronaldo.

Ronaldo. Siuuuuuu! Ah!

Siuuuu! He understands Ronaldo.

Siuuuuuu!

Siuuuuuuu!

Ow!

Bloody hell!

Now we've got a child walking on our bed. Hello, mate. Hello!

Don't start crying. Or throwing up. Or... Oh, my God! Could you imagine?

Or doing anything that babies do. Yeah.

I just don't understand how we're on the island of Sumatra

with no English-speaking locals sleeping on a floor

in a man's living room before going out and catching some fish.

It's a weirdly exciting situation.

CHILDREN CHATTER

They're saying I've got monkey legs,

apparently, because they're really hairy. They wouldn't be wrong.

But if someone told me I'd be getting my legs caressed

by some Indonesian kids

on my 21st birthday, then I would've had something to say.

ALL:# Happy birthday to you

# Happy birthday to you! #

Oohhhh!

Good singing, guys.

High five.

Missed!

One, two, three, ah!

BOY GIGGLES

You're cheating!

Ah!

Having children is probably my number one life goal.

I think it always has been.

I didn't have the opportunity to kind of have, er,

parents growing up.

I never got the true feeling of, like, a big family Christmas,

or, you know, big family meals

and spending lots of quality time together.

You know, sometimes you just have block it out

because it's...it's tough. It is tough.

But, tonight, it was actually nice for me to get my mind off the race.

I would say, for the first time, did not think about it.

5 AM - time for the trailing teams

to start chasing down Alfie and Owen.

Oh, God! I know. It's a long way up, isn't it?

Yeah. You should've done that bit.

Jakarta. Well... That's all right.

At least we know where that is. Yeah.

I suppose, in an ideal world, we can travel a bit today,

overnighter, bit of work the next day, move on.

I don't think there's any intention to splash money.

Hmm. But we feel as if our budget is OK.

Jakarta. OK. I know it's on Java.

Let's have a look at our map.

If we do the coast, anything could happen...

Anything can happen. ..heading that way.

Yeah. But if we just do central, it's more direct.

It should, hopefully, be quicker.

You're a quick thinker, aren't you? Thinking on the spot.

I think with my science background, it might help analysing things

when it gets difficult.

Navigate, and actually understand

what we can actually do in the moment quite quickly. Right.

There should be more transport... Yeah. ..around as well.

We need to catch up on Alfie and Owen.

Yeah, so... We've got nearly 24 hours... 23 hours. ..to catch up on.

BELL RINGS

Hello! Could we please book a taxi to the bus terminal, please?

Right. Taxi booked for five past six to take us to the bus station.

Our name on it. Only we can use it.

Come on, Mum.

The plan is not to be jittery,

but I can just see the other team heading off already.

It feels like we're trying to catch up again. Hmm.

Where's our taxi? Don't know.

HE SINGS TO HIMSELF

Who's the taxi for? Taxi for?

Who's it for? What's the name?

Stephen, is it? Yeah, Stephen.

This taxi for Stephen?

I'll get in. Thank you.

Stephen. This is our taxi?

Taxi. Yes.

Come on, Isabel.

It's a race. Let's get on.

Come on! Just put it in the front and let's go.

Are we all getting in? Yeah.

Bus station. Bus terminal. Bus station. Yes. OK.

Oh, great!

Now they're nicking our taxi.

Jeez! Ridiculous, innit?

Mum I feel guilty. It is what it is.

We just have to get on now, Isabel.

I'm very competitive and I've taught my kids to be competitive, too.

Isabel and I are going to win.

God! We've got to do some charity work or something

to get some good karma.

At the moment, it's not balanced.

I don't... My spirit doesn't feel right.

No, it was either them or us.

It's a competition!

Dharmasraya? Oh, yeah.

Um, bus, yeah, go. Er, start here, yeah, ten o'clock.

Ten o'clock today? Yeah, ten. Nothing earlier?

Looking to progress by means of the major cities of the interior,

Eugenie and Isabel first need to strike out past Sumatra's rainforest

to reach the regency of Dharmasraya.

We need now.

Anyone going now?

No, no, no.

We could maybe get a car.

Instead of hanging around and waiting,

we've got the money where we can do things. Yeah. All right?

What's your best price? 700.

700? Yeah.

INDISTINCT

OK. Are you ready? 700,000. Are you ready?

Yeah. Are you OK?

Let's do it. It's a bold move.

We've got to catch up on the 24 hours from the boys. Yeah.

I think if we waited for too long for this bus,

it's against our strategy straight away,

so we just want to keep moving, be on the ball all the time.

Jumping from transport hubs basically.

I'm excited for this leg.

I feel positive.

I'm glad.

OK? Yeah. Not OK.

Not OK in the slightest.

90 kilometres away...

Do we wait?

One hour?

Alfie and Owen are fishing for etem semar,

small moonfish found in the waters around Sumatra.

Hey!

What do I do with it? In the bucket?

Looks like a turd.

The work to reward ratio isn't...isn't fantastic.

Is he dead? Agh!

OK.

Ahhhh!

Aghhhh!

CREW LAUGH

He breathed!

Right, let's go. Let's get out of here.

We still need to maintain this lead.

Eddie, can we go now?

We've got to get a bus.

The bus they booked yesterday should propel Alfie and Owen

over 500 kilometres along the coast to Bengkulu.

Do you think we smell of fish still?

I hope not.

I do think, just by default of how far ahead we were,

I think we will finish first

in this leg.

If we carry this on, yeah.

I'm fairly confident about that.

Back in Bukittinggi...

They're not getting on here as well, surely.

Well, hello!

Hello! Hello!

..the two teams at the back of the pack have booked on the same bus

to the town of Sungai Pagu,

almost 200 kilometres away.

I literally don't fit in here.

You don't fit in here?

Yeah. Exactly. Look at my head.

STEPHEN LAUGHS

Let's go!

The major objective is to close the gap on the boys,

but, you know, to already achieve a little bit of time made up

on Stephen and Viv and that hour gap,

we're actually making tracks, which is good.

And then, picking up work.

It's a seven-hour journey through the back roads of Sumatra.

Every turn, there's a bobble,

and it's cracking my head against this thing.

Pothole.

He's flying over some of them as well.

BLEEP!

But the rewards should be worth it...

And the view's nice. I like the lake. Very pretty.

Yes, an attractive landscape, isn't it? It is.

..as the road winds past volcanic crater lakes

and through Asia's most ancient tropical rainforest.

It is beautiful though, like.

This is how I imagined Indonesia,

with all like paddy fields and palm trees and stuff.

TRADER CALLS OUT

No, it's OK, thanks. Yeah, we're not hungry.

Do you need the toilet? Shall we ask him for a toilet stop?

I shall just clench for the next four days.

Oh BLEEP!The bus is leaking in several places.

And the bags are above us getting damp.

I'm drenched.

Such shit, like.

This is a race and a half, this is!

We are here.

Everything to do with that bus journey was awful.

Oh, my God!

Oh, is it drenched?

Oh, my God!

That's...that's just terrible.

Ah!

I want my money back.

We've tumbled out from this God-forsaken van.

I feel all dishevelled.

So, yeah, not...not a great start, really.

Be safe.

All the best. You, too. Yeah, take care of yourselves. All right.

BETTY:We're still none the wiser of what the job actually entails.

As cash-strapped Betty and James head off

for an essential budget boost...

Betty. Hello. I'm James.

Nice to meet you.

So do you have some work for us?

With bricks?

Oh, God!

This is going to be hard.

On the other side of town...

Look at these fancy places.

Yeah, very pretty. Wow! Yeah. Very ornate, aren't they?

This is my home. Ah! Wow!

Wow! Look at that! That's beautiful!

..Stephen and Viv have arranged to stay the night

with Mrs Yubeck at her Malay-style home.

This is my daughter. There's daughter. Ah! Come here.

Daughter, come here! Introduce yourself

to Mr...? Stephen. Stephen.

And Viv. Stephen and Viv.

Hello. Hello.

With hotels few and far behind on Sumatra,

the government encourages locals to open up their homes

so tourists can gain insight into their lives.

Every little nook and cranny has got

a photograph or a little bit of history.

Wow! Ha!

Mrs Yubeck has restored her home's original features,

Including the traditional Rumah Gadang style roof,

its shape based on buffalo horns.

It's just like a magical little TARDIS.

Instantly, we feel at home and feel welcome, and it's just delightful.

CALL TO PRAYER

I want to pray Maghrib. Salat Maghrib.

That's fine. Oh, yes, it's call to prayer now, isn't it?

Yes, of course. Yes, yeah.

I don't want to stare, though.

You're all right cos you're facing this way. I'm facing their way.

Well, turn your chair round. Well, no cos then it looks like

we're a front row audience, doesn't it? Oh, spectators. Yes.

Allahu Akbar.

Allahu Akbar.

BOY RECITES PRAYER

But it's somehow the extremes in religion

that pushes the world apart.

But I think it obviously gives them comfort, doesn't it?

Yeah, yeah. There's a closeness. Yeah.

There's a lovely family closeness. Hmm. Of course it is. Yeah.

I'm not a believer,

but I can well understand the sense of belonging

that religion can give to families.

You're kind of almost in awe of the fact that they believe so strongly.

And it...it's kind of a warm, fuzzy feeling as well.

Oh, aren't you sweet? Oh, look at you! Oh, you are!

137km deeper into the interior...

Oh, gosh! That was long!

..Isabel and Eugenie have reached the regency of Dharmasraya,

also planning to take advantage of a Sumatran home stay,

located 13km from the main town.

It's a bit out of the way

but, I mean, you've got to balance it all up, as well,

and it seems like it'll be a cool experience.

One thing I quite like about Sumatra, it's not what you'd expect.

You take a turn, you think there wouldn't be a village

or a whole neighbourhood, and then there is.

Mr Chowes and his wife Sulis encourage visitors to help out

with the family business,

the ancient Indonesian art of batik,

fabric dyeing using hot wax.

This is my cup of tea.

I think this is quite calming for me.

Name? Santi. Santi.

Eugenie.

CLATTERING Ooh!

I'm always breaking things!

The children, the family are all around. The neighbours.

You can feel the sense of community here.

How old?

Two? Are you two years old?

LAUGHTER

Four? Empat?

Five?

Lima! Lima!

You look younger.

So I actually grew up in the Pentecostal church.

It was very, very strict -

you know, women weren't supposed to wear trousers -

so I kind of let it go as a teenager.

So, this is your house? Yeah.

I was going through a really difficult divorce.

Mandi. What's mandi? To wash? Before we eat?

Why not go to church? Just came into my head.

And I sat in that corner and I listened to the service

and I felt a warmth.

And that was the night that I gave my life to God.

This, er, tempeh.

Mm, it's nice.

Lovely. So, tomorrow, we're trying to go to Palembang.

Can we get a bus?

A bus. Bus, bus. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

That one road we were on for half an hour has made me panic a bit,

so I'm hoping there's another route to get back to the main town.

Would you be able to help us?

Yeah. Yeah. OK, thank you. Thank you.

On the race, it's kind of forced me

to just, you know, approach strangers.

I feel like I really have been able to build up my confidence,

and that's been enjoyable doing that.

THUNDER RUMBLES

Back in Sungai Pagu...

Are you sweating? Yeah.

..to help ease their money troubles,

Betty and James are applying themselves at Mr Yar's workshop,

helping to produce

the daily quota of 600 handmade sand and cement bricks.

Oh, didn't think about these bugs, did we?

I did say that.

You've got used to it.

I just don't like it. I think it is just a culture shock.

It might be.

I just miss, like, the... Yeah, like having, like, toilet paper.

Just like a basic need, isn't it? Simple things. Yeah.

I think on the race my responsibilities

on my shoulders that I feel is being that little big brother to Betty.

But when I'm stressed or want to break down, I can't,

cos someone has to still be

that calm head and, "Right, what's the plan?"

Or "What shall we do next? Where shall we go?" That sort of thing.

I'd be able to go do this at home,

get in a warm shower, put pyjamas on.

Hot choc. And just get into bed or something.

But I can't do that here.

Being in Sumatra has been chaotic, to say the least.

And it's not nice seeing James, who's usually Mr Positive

and living in the moment, being much more affected by the frustrations

and the chaos. But I just find, like,

like a bit of a raw beauty in it.

And I'm kind of loving it.

Good?

Good! Perfect!

We're going to go sleep, and then up at six,

and work again. Bricks. Yeah.

Perfect.

The surroundings is beautiful.

You don't really have a chance to really look at them

when you're shifting heavy bricks.

Thank you. We did good?

Good. OK.

Good job.

Their budget supplemented, Betty and James hunt for a way out of town.

Ah! Buffalo!

Hey!

There is this job that's about tofu.

Tofu's soft on the hands,

and it's towards checkpoint.

Planning a leap of over 600km to another job in Muara Enim.

Bus terminal?

Terminal?

Yeah. Terminal, yeah.

MAN ADVISES

Oh, you're both pointing the other way.

We're going to the bus terminal.

Bus arrive here.

Here? Minibus?

Yeah. Arrive here.

MEN ADVISE

Solok? Solok.

Oh, Solok, and then change. Yeah. Yeah.

I feel like we're going to end up somewhere else.

I think we're fine.

OK, let's go.

The plan is to try and get to the bus terminal here. Yeah.

To try and see, like, assess more options

cos, at the minute, we've just been told like a load of things. Yeah.

We'll...we'll figure it out when we get there.

I feel like he's not taking us to the bus terminal.

BLEEP!

So, have we gone way past?

Well, I don't know. I thought it was back there.

But... Are we going to the bus terminal?

Are we going to the bus terminal?

Stop, stop, stop! Just tell him to stop. Stop.

Terminal? The bus terminal?

Solok. Not Solok. Not in Solok.

No, no. No, no.

DRIVER ADVISES

The town of Solok is three hours in the wrong direction,

back towards Bukittinggi.

I think they're very confident that they know where they're going.

And if it means going back, to then go like forward again.

Solok. Let's go.

At least we're moving.

710km closer to the checkpoint...

We've been on here now for 20 hours.

I thought we were kind of just going to head down one coastal road,

but I think we came quite significantly inland

to make some stops.

I don't think I've seen the sea once since being on this bus.

After 19 and a half hours, Alfie and Owen's epic bus journey

to the surfers' paradise of Bengkulu is at an end...

Oh, my gosh!

Hello. Hello. Hello. Oh, a map.

..but they've taken a meandering route to get here.

We didn't come down the coast. We just went all the way inland,

and then straight down and then back onto the coast.

Then, from here to Jakarta, it's another 800 BLEEP!

We've still got quite a long way to go.

Are you Alfie and Owen? Yeah. OK. You're Yadi. I'm Yadi.

Nice to meet you. Lovely to meet you. Nice to meet you, too.

It's much harder than it looks.

Got to proper put some elbow grease into it.

After this, put new wax.

Wax on it. OK.

With an onward bus booked for tomorrow,

a shift at Yadi's surf school secures a bed for tonight,

before hitting the waves at sun up.

This feels like a bit of a gem.

Let's face it, to get a free surfing lesson

and a stay here feels like we're robbing the guy blind, to be honest.

Right. I think that's done.

This is going well, isn't it?

Chilling by the pool knowing that

we're making 20 hours of progress again tomorrow.

Yeah, with a job tonight. Going surfing in the morning. And surfing.

I think... Great. ..nobody will have caught up for 24 hours. No.

They might have caught up a few hours here or there,

but I still think we'll be 18 hours ahead of the game.

If we were hours behind the others,

like, this day could've been just a whole ball of stress.

But it's the complete opposite.

Said it a thousand times - I'm here to win, but what I've struggled with

is that when I get something in my sights, I'm like a dog with a bone.

Yeah, you've lost your head quite a few times, but you haven't lost it

to the point where it's ruined

the race or our friendship or anything like that. No.

I think friendships like ours are just kind of -

I think they're quite rare.

Yeah, cos like a lot of people you speak to can't say they've

got, like, a best mate that they do pretty much everything with

and who they, like, want to be friends with for, like, ever.

Did you finish your drink? Yeah. OK.

See ya.

HE CHUCKLES

You're welcome.

Kind of having one goal to achieve in eight weeks

and having no distractions from it has turned me

into someone that I really, really don't like.

But it's also given me some really, really important lessons

to be able to take home, And I think I am going to be able to really,

really grow as a human being when I get back.

You dickhead.

Oh, shit, the watch.

That's payback for the egg situation, I think.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

528km away, Eugenie and Isabel are aiming to diminish the boys' lead.

SHOUTING, LAUGHTER

We just want to power through

and hopefully we can get on a bus to Palembang.

Bye! Bye!

THEY LAUGH

Hopefully we can catch up on the boys, as well. Hmm.

I think we will this way,

cos I reckon they're still prancing about, wherever they are.

This is the bus for Palembang? This one?

With the help of last night's host, they've found an overnight bus

to propel them to Palembang - Sumatra's second-biggest city -

560km away.

The bus is going to take 20 hours.

It is what it is, you know? Suck it up.

We can't whinge too much, I think, on this leg.

They're so friendly, and they really try.

Yeah, they're a lovely family.

Right, well, we're leaving now.

Seven minutes early. OK.

We need to get to...

Muara Enim. ..Muara Enim.

Muara Enim. Yes.

Meanwhile, Betty and James' three-hour journey

in the wrong direction has ended in Solok...

You come now, and you are up there tomorrow morning.

..but presented them with a potential opportunity...

I mean, it is travel for a BLEEP long way. And it's accommodation.

And accommodation.

..the last bus of the day that travels overnight

all the way to Muara Enim -

a massive 700km leap through

the centre of Sumatra that could rocket them back into contention.

Literally going to get on this bus and wake up tomorrow

and be exactly where I want to be. Yeah, that's true.

Hello, everyone.

As the siblings depart

on a mammoth bus journey...

Like, yeah, we might be behind

but we have kept moving. Mm.

Even if it was backwards...a little bit.

Is... Is this it? I just don't know.

Stephen and Viv have travelled a more modest distance -

121km to the mountain town of Sungai Penuh.

This is the back of beyond.

After falling in love with their first home stay,

they fancy another...

Mr Irawan?

MAN RESPONDS

That's you. Yes.Ah, hello.

Oh, hello. I'm Stephen. Hello, hello. Yeah.

..so are stopping with cinnamon farmer Mr Ritman and his family.

What's this?

Ah.

Ah.

Good. Yeah.

Is there toilet?

Um, toilet... Am... Imom? Amom?

Toilet. Imon.

You report back. I don't need it, I went at the previous one.

There's no light.

This might be...

I guess this is testing the comfort zone to its absolute limit.

HE EXHALES HEAVILY

There's a bed with no pillow,

And the toilet's just got a hole in the floor

And a bucket of water.

HE EXHALES HEAVILY Really? Just... There's...

There's no light. Oh, no.

So you can't close... There's a hole in the floor.

Just be careful there.

I'm not going to eat anything, I'm not going to drink anything.

I'm just not going to go.

Come on. Yeah, we'll be fine. It's all right, put it away.

Let's just hope we get some sleep.

Still 578km short of Muara Enim...

THUD!

Holy BLEEP.What was that? What BLEEPwas that noise?

Oh, my God, I can't breathe.

What's going on?

Think the tyre blew up.

Massive bang, it...

It, like, fully popped.

I don't know where it is. Probably flew off.

Probably see it in Lombok.

Can never be straightforward. Never be straightforward.

Come on, we're late for work, it's 7:05. Oh, yeah, OK.

Last night was very uncomfortable,

but it'll be good for us to actually do some work

to pay for our board and keep.

Repay them with their kindness, basically.

Let's go! Vamos!

Shoe off.

Oh! Ah, sugar. No j... ah.

Just put it down, put it down right there.

Thank you, that's fine.

That's the br... Oh!

Yeah, that's rotten, OK, be careful with that one.

I've never been in a jungle before.

Oh, yes! I did my own cinnamon.

I think the wilds of sheepy Wales

is my, uh...my extreme, I think.

For four generations, Mr Ritman's family has laboured intensively

to strip the bark from each cinnamon tree...

..before placing it in the sun to dry and curl

into the familiar aromatic quills found in kitchens across the globe.

Oh, I want to go at that.

Yeah, I think there's a new expert - I think he's thinking that

he can teach them a thing or two about felling trees.

Timber!

The hard work that goes into what we think is, you know,

10g of cinnamon, you know, he sells it for a pittance.

Oh! Think I might need to go and visit a tree soon.

Do you want to ask where the toilet is, then? There's not one, is there?

Well, that was a first.

First-ever jungle poo.

Was that a jungle poo?! Oh, my God!

I know! I just had the urge.

Just had a bit of a poo-reka moment.

Thought if I go down there, they'll all see me.

This bit down here is a bit slippy, but up there it was dry.

It's not any more.

What am I coming to?

HE EXHALES HEAVILY

We've had two very different home stays.

One was privileged people, they had potted toilets...

Hmm. ..she had... She was educated.

And then we've come here, and to begin with we were quite horrified

at the level of comfort... I still am.

..and it's really quite... humbling to see them.

They're all working really, really hard. Mm-hm.

And then we think of our house, you know, four toilets.

It's... It's almost obscene, isn't it? It is.

And they're inviting us in, you know - what... We...

What they've got, they're sharing with us. Yeah.

I've got a load of respect for it, I couldn't do it. So...

But you were... I reckon to some extent you were doing it

when I first met you.

Nothing like this, darling.

No, nothing like this, but you had a...dunny outside in a shed.

OK, OK, we've worked hard to achieve what we've got. Yeah.

I'm very proud of it, and I do not want to go back.

Look. Honestly, when we use cinnamon at home now...

Yeah. It's... Yeah. It's going to be...wow.

"Ah! Look, we made that!" Yeah. "That might be our cinnamon stick!"

THEY LAUGH

To the south...

..with breaks rolling off the Indian Ocean, Bengkulu's beaches

offer opportunities for surfing beginners and pros alike.

I'd say I, you know, I picked it up fairly quick.

I like to think my balance is pretty good.

Knowing Alfie, he probably thought at some point about, you know,

the bus this afternoon.

But for the most part it looked like he was enjoying it.

Standing up a little bit more frequently than I thought.

But one of the last things that we do without the race in mind,

so...spending time in Indonesia with my best mate,

doing surfing in an opportunity of a lifetime is incredible.

Leaving the surf behind,

Owen and Alfie face another trying bus journey.

600km overnight to the city of Bandar Lampung -

the nearest major transport hub to the port of Bakauheni -

gateway to Java, and the seventh checkpoint in Jakarta.

Right, another 20 hours.

We're meant get in there about 8:00 tomorrow morning.

However, as we saw last time,

it took, like, an extra two or three hours,

so we've got the rest of today and all night on it.

And the fact that we might get to checkpoint tomorrow

is carrying me through.

450km to the east, in Palembang...

Leah. Leah. Leah.

OK, this is for you.

OK, enjoy.

..Isabel and Eugenie are finishing a shift,

preparing and serving pempek - a popular deep-fried fishcake.

Yes! Yes! CHEERING

That was hot. It was quite difficult to do.

I don't know how they can do it all day.

Done? Oh, yeah, yeah.

Thank you so much.

Thank you so much, thank you.

Bye!

Our budget seems quite healthy.

It kind of like justifies us actually getting a taxi over a bus.

Oh, man, you're flush. Thank you. We are.

Newly minted, they're also heading to Bandar Lampung

within 90km of the port to Java.

This leg has flown by.

It's been very quick and I'm hoping this means we've caught up.

Everything's just falling into place, isn't it? Yeah, yeah.

Let's not jinx it.

Is she getting in?

Must be.

This, this is supposed to be a private taxi.

We paid a lot for this.

He's got his hazard lights on.

Why is he driving with his hazards on?

BEEPING That's what that noise is, right?

Where's he going now?

What's going on?

Overload car. Overloaded.

So too many people.

So another car is coming?

And then you go in that car? Yes.

And we stay here? OK.

Other driver, is he nearly here?

The process took a while because the driver's friend's car keys

were lost!

Has he found the keys now? Yeah.

And he's on his way? Half an hour?

You're joking me.

You couldn't write this, Isabel!

Seven hours later than planned...

..Betty and James arrive in the coal mining town of Muara Enim.

21 hours on the road in that stupid bus.

Awful.

We've finally made it to the side of the road.

The side of the road.

But there's no rest for the cash-strapped.

So they head to their second job in Sumatra.

We had it like a commission... Oh.

Holy BLEEP. Holy shit, what was that?

His tyre. Oh, my God.

This is not our day.

Got another half a day gone, race-wise.

We've not showered, we've not eaten, and it's hot, sweaty, everything

just getting added up and just,

yeah, it's really, really pissing me off.

Hello, James. James?

Do you like? Do you like my friend?

Give over.

He has a girlfriend.

Mrs Yosi's family restaurant is known for its tahu sumedang,

deep-fried tofu.

No, it's not been for me, this whole Sumatra job.

Maybe cos sometimes it is cos it's out of our control,

it gets a little bit more frustrating.

I just feel like I'm mentally not properly in it any more,

I don't know. What, because you're so tired?

Yeah, I think we just haven't had a decent night's sleep in, what,

three nights probably.

And we've barely eaten. Barely eaten.

I completely get you, but we've worked twice.

We've got quite a bit of money behind us.

Yeah, we've had some decent, decent brass.

We've done what we've set out to do this leg

in terms of fairly spending and earning. Yeah.

So it's on to checkpoint, like, cheaply and swiftly as possible. Yeah.

I could feel James getting really frustrated today.

And, I mean, when he opened up about it, it was obviously

nice that he could do that.

The tables have definitely turned in that aspect, because usually it's

me moaning and him being like "Live in the moment and find a positive."

BABY CRYING

I think on the journey we've learnt that speaking to each other's

actually not that scary.

And it helps. Yeah, it's definitely helped. And quite a lot.

And now, like we could easily pick up the phone to each other and talk about whatever. Mm.

Probably over the last two legs, I think my frustrations

and down moments come periodically.

I want to be resilient and brave and whatever. Hmm.

But my condition, I do believe that it has, like, made me

have this mindset of, like, just being negative

and not, like, really liking the person I am.

It's OK.

Shortly after my 16th birthday I got diagnosed with MRKH.

It means that I don't have a uterus, um,

I don't have a womb, and I only have one kidney as well.

I think as a young woman you're kind of told, "You're going to marry,

"you're going to have a family" and from a young age

when that's taken away from you, it does put doubts in your mind

and doubts in your purpose as a person, I suppose.

Like, honestly, I forget that, you know,

that you can't have children, like.

Like, I mean, me and you have never had a conversation even about it, have we? No.

It's definitely made me, I think, develop a lot

of the negative attributes I have,

like overthinking, like wanting to feel like in control,

because, I don't know, I just felt like at 16

like, uh, something was taken away from me that I couldn't control.

Yeah.

When you've been saying that everything happens for a reason,

like, I can't believe that, because...

Yeah, that makes more sense now.

I get that, you know, my obviously philosophy is everything happens for a reason but...

Yeah. ..to you, obviously not,

and that being positive is not always

the best way to deal with things.

Oh, come here. Oh.

Ah. Thank you. That's OK.

That's OK.

To hear that was, you know, it was tough

and the first time, you know, we've talked about it

and I've heard it from Betty herself, and it's only up until

now that I realise how much it does actually affect her.

Um. Excuse me. Got a frog in my throat. BLEEP

For nine years I've been, like, so fixated on what my body can't do.

Hmm. Rather than what it can do. Yeah.

It can BLEEPcarry this 20 kg bag, like, around the world.

Whoa, whoa, it's only 16, chill out.

Brave's now probably an understatement.

Have to think of a new word for her, but, yeah.

Um, I think...

Can someone just come hug me, please?

Come here.

You're all right.

We need to get from here to Bandar Lampung.

Attentions return to the race

and how to reach Java for the seventh checkpoint in Jakarta.

Do buses go tonight?

Tomorrow.

Sumatra is definitely testing us.

If this had been any other leg, I think it would've made us crumble.

550km to the west,

starting to lose pace with the other teams...

How much is the taxi? 1.8 million?

Oh, my God, that is a lot of money.

..and despite having £690 to spend...

There a bus to Palembang?

Tomorrow. Tomorrow leave. Yeah. Leave here?

Shit.

So frustrating.

We can go to a hotel now, we can have a decent rest

and then set off again in the morning. Do it.

..Stephen and Viv decide to stay put almost 1,000 kilometres

short of the ferry port.

The way things are going on this leg,

we just feel that we're not moving.

We're not doing very well.

At a truck stop 352km short of Bandar Lampung...

Well, I was very, very confused when our first stop was in a town

called Naplingagu, because that's central Sumatra

and I was very confused about how we ended up back inland.

It feels like another lengthened journey for no reason.

..Alfie and Owen have yet again ventured inland,

unwittingly increasing the length of their journey

by another 175km.

We've done about 12 hours of diversions, but I don't know,

I do not know.

On the same road and closing in...

We can put on some speed now.

We've done really well in terms of taking that direct route

to the point where we do believe that we will have made up some time.

Catch up with the other cars. Faster.

I've heard that Java is extremely busy.

Like, chaotic.

I just can't wait to get on this ferry.

At the southern tip of Sumatra, ferries set sail on average

every 12 minutes for the neighbouring island of Java.

Think we are going.

That's wicked, though, that we got on and it's like ready to go.

I know, it's great.

Back in Bandar Lampung, Alfie and Owen stumped up for a taxi to

get them to the port onto the ferry and straight through to Jakarta.

What are you going to eat when you get to checkpoint?

I think a nice burger.

A nice burger with bacon and egg.

As they cross the Sunda Strait,

they sail in the lee of the notorious volcano Krakatoa...

..responsible for some of the deadliest eruptions

in modern history.

I don't think there'll be any other teams on this ferry.

I also hope there aren't any other teams on this ferry.

I'd be baffled if another team got on,

to be honest, because I feel like we've done this very, very quickly.

I'm not saying that we've held on to our 24 hour-lead, but I'd be

shocked if anyone has cut it down by any more than like 12 hours.

There's loads of car people up here.

Excuse me, excuse me, are you going to Jakarta?

No. No, you're not going. Thank you.

Isabel and Eugenie have clawed back 23 hours on Alfie and Owen,

but unlike them, are yet to secure travel to the checkpoint.

Hello, do you drive? Yes, I drive.

Are you going to Jakarta? Yes.

And we can give you some money for petrol and everything as well.

Will you have space for two of us? Yes.

Oh, that's perfect. That'd be brilliant.

Yeah, that would be really good, thank you. OK.

It'll give us a bit of an advantage not waiting for a bus.

Speed is of the essence in terms of getting to Jakarta

as quickly as possible.

Coming into dock...

Let's go.

Oh, for BLEEP sake.

It's all right. It's only leg seven, come on.

On to Java.

The world's most populous island,

Java is home to 143 million people.

I think we're getting near to Jakarta

because the traffic's getting bad.

109 km from the port, Indonesia's capital.

Location of the seventh checkpoint.

The light is darkening, the mood is changing.

Checkpoint is appearing further and further away by the minute.

The scale of its urban sprawl, only surpassed by Tokyo,

means Jakartans spend an average of 22 days a year in traffic.

For the first time on the leg I am worried about our position.

Thank you, take care.

This is busy.

Why are you running across the road? That was a bit stupid.

Take a bus from GBK station to Carat Sudirman.

Exit to the top of the viewing platform.

We need a bus station or a train station. Yeah.

Oh, right. Get in there, then.

We go up and... Oh, yeah, yeah.

Ah.

Let's go in down here. Trains to Jakarta down there.

As Alfie and Owen head into GBK bus station...

This is it. That's a bus stop.

..arriving across the road...

We need to cross over.

Sory.

Carat Sudirman? Number one.Number one.

Go, go, go, go. Go, go. OK, thank you.

I think it's two stops in.

The bus to Carat Sudirman.

Oh, it's here, Mum, it's here.

Excuse me, definitely Carat Sudirman?

Yeah.

I've got a sinking feeling the closer we get that we're not first.

We're not first.

Exit to the top of the viewing platform.

When we get off at Carat Sudirman. Yeah.

There you go, that's us.

Do we press a button?

Does it... Is it going to stop?

BELL RINGS

Someone pushed the button. I heard it. OK.

Is that not a viewing platform, that platform? OK, shall we go up here?

That's got to be it, there. That's got to be it, there.

Look southwest. The black tower directly behind

the angular white building is your checkpoint hotel.

The Orient Jakarta.

Right black tower. Shall I get the compass out? Yeah.

OK, southwest.

We did not pack a compass.

North. No. South.

How do you know if that's north?

Well, let's do it that way first and see.

Fine, let's go. The Orient.

The Orient building, yeah.

We came from West Jakarta and we came in that way.

Where is South Jakarta?

South, south.South Jakarta? Yes, yes.

I don't know if it's this one or the other one just past it.

Oh, is it the one behind it? It's one of these.

Just need a sign.

This is the Orient. Down there.

We're here, we're here, we're here. Where's reception?

Maybe it's through this way. Here we go.

THUNDER CRASHES

Welcome to the Orient Jakarta. Please sign in.Hello.

Oh. Good. Nice one.

Well done, mate. Well done.

That is a relief, that is a relief. Come on!

Massive going into final leg.

First again. So that's good. Yeah. We kind of expected it.

But it's always a nice surprise to see it in the book.

It does feel good to know that we're here and the others aren't. Yeah.

They're struggling somewhere.

OK, oh, there's the book. Oh.

Wow. We've caught them up.

Yeah, we caught up. Look at the time.

12 minutes. 12 minutes. Bloody hell.

Very good. We needed to catch up. Yeah. And we have.

We've done it.

12 minutes! Woohoo!

At the seventh and final checkpoint before the finish line,

Eugenie and Isabel have successfully closed the gap

on leaders Alfie and Owen.

Everything we did we made sure we thought about it,

we thought it through a bit better than we had in the past.

From now on the only thing that matters is us being first place,

and we're going to be first place.

Knowing we're so close to the boys

and it is possible now really to win.

Storm is coming.

Right, let's see if we can go have a look at the book.

See if anyone arrived last night.

I'm hoping it's empty still.

If we've lost 24 hours, that is sickening. That is sickening.

That is pretty bad.

OK. 12 minutes! Whoa.

OK.

12 minutes. What?

They were right behind us and we had absolutely no idea.

But they've done that a day quicker than us.

I mean, I'm furious. Furious.

I'm annoyed. I don't know how they've done that.

OK. I'm genuinely impressed. Fair play to them.

It's basically a two-horse race now. But...

Game on.

Back in Sumatra...

Stop. Stop, stop.

He blew me a kiss. Are you BLEEP kidding?!

..two teams are still on the road.

The only thing we can do is to try and get private taxis.

We can't just keep spending money on taxis.

No point being so far out of contention on this leg,

now we're not going to make it to Java till tomorrow.

Losing our places in the race very quickly here.

But our only hope is other people are having the same problems.

What's he doing, seriously?

Oh!

Holy... Oh, my God.

Where is he?

Yay.

Java is in sight. Onwards and upwards.

I think what I realised yesterday was, like, one thing that I've

been searching for is that feeling of being positive,

living in the moment, whatever. Yeah.

And the one thing that could've taught me that

was at home all the time.

It was you!

Oh!

From the outset I've wanted to win.

Everything still to play for.

This is going to be so close.

This'll be minutes.

We know we've got some spare budget,

we're determined to make use of it to buy distance, to buy time.

I'm praying for it. I believe that it's going to happen.

Go, go!

And if it's God's will, Isabel and I will be winning the race.

Everything has come down to this.

Everything.

The motivation behind winning isn't about money.

The motivation behind winning is winning.