Race Across the World series 4
The production company said that China was omitted during the planning stage due to "time constraints and difficulties in travel in the aftermath of the global pandemic", so a flight was organised from Seoul to Hanoi.
The next day, Brydie & Sharon headed towards Tōnō en route to Tokyo, while Betty & James caught a train to Sendai, on the east coast of Honshu.
Meanwhile Stephen & Viv visited an Onsen in Aomori before heading to Tokyo and onward to a job harvesting wasabi at a farm in Hotaka in exchange for bed and board.
In Tokyo, Brydie & Sharon took a train to Toba to wait on tables at a restaurant run by the local Ama women, whilst Betty & James proceeded directly to Osaka.
Brydie & Sharon had gone directly to Okayama to work aboard a fishing boat on the Seto Inland Sea but were also stranded for a day due to the lack of trains.
There they paid their respects at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park after which they did a one hour shift in an Okonomiyaki restaurant, but instead of cooking, the duo found themselves washing dishes to due their late arrival.
On their arrival at the Hakata ferry port, Stephen & Viv were disappointed to learn that they had missed the only two daily crossings and would now have to wait until the next day, when they were caught up by both Brydie & Sharon and Betty & James.
On arrival in South Korea, Alfie & Owen immediately commenced traversing up the Korean peninsula by buses hugging the eastern seaboard, whereas Eugenie & Isabel replenished funds by working at the Jagalchi Fish Market alongside the Ajummas (old lady vendors).
When the other three teams finally made it to Busan, Betty & James caught the last bus to Seoul but Brydie & Sharon opted to spend a night in the city before making their way to Daejeon the next day to work collecting chestnuts.
On day 11 Eugenie & Isabel finally headed to Sokcho on a direct bus service, whilst Alfie & Owen were killing time by visiting Haesindang Park in Samcheok.
Three teams aimed for Ho Chi Minh City whilst the other two opted for the Lệ Thanh – Ou Ya Dav border crossing near Pleiku in the central highlands.
First to leave, having lost their map and still in need of replenishing their budget, Eugenie & Isabel decided to initially make for Ninh Binh by bus to work washing motorcycles.
Betty & James' attempt at earning money at a rubber plantation in a small village were scuppered by torrential rainfall and they were stranded there waiting for the weather to clear.
Arriving after 30 hours, the pair took time to recuperate at the local mud baths before heading first to Da Lat and then onto Ho Chi Minh City by bus where they hoped to catch an onward connection to Chau Doc.
[16] Excited at the prospect of the 'land of smiles', Alfie & Owen headed straight for the border at Poipet whilst Eugenie & Isabel travelled to Krakor on the shores of Tonle Sap Lake where they visited Kampong Luong, a floating village and caught Siamese Mud Carp to make Prahok in exchange for bed and board.
For them it was to the Khao Yai National Park, but having caught the wrong bus they ended up in Nakhon Ratchasima before heading Pak Chong and their intended goal where they camped overnight, observed the local fauna, including Sambar deer and wild elephants in their natural habitat during a night safari, and trekked to the Haew Suwat falls.
Working with animals as well were Betty and James, who had traversed through the province of Roi Et to toil at a farm tending the Water buffalo, before travelling onward to Mae Sot.
There they visited the nearby Ban Khlong Water lily park, but family tensions stopped them fully enjoying the attraction, before they travelled onward to Chiang Mai where they crossed paths with Stephen & Viv at the main bus terminal, where both teams secured different songthaews to take them to Mae Sariang.
[17] First to leave, Stephen & Viv, managed to hitch a lift as far as Chiang Mai en route to their first stop, Rangsit, on the outskirts of Bangkok to work at a duck farm.
Eugenie & Isabel chose Mae Sot as their stepping stone to the capital, but decided to take a side trip to the Erawan Falls in the Kanchanburi province once they reached Nakhon Sawan.
Alfie & Owen, disappointed with finishing last on the previous leg, wanted to hurry directly to Bangkok, but found themselves stranded for another day waiting for seat space on the bus service.
[18] The three leading teams chose to hop across the Andaman Sea via the islands of Ko Lipe and Langkawi, with only Eugenie & Isabel backtracking to the Thai mainland and choosing an overland route.
On arrival in Langkawi, Stephen & Viv made a plan to head for George Town on the island of Penang to see the colonial architecture and to work a shift at a family rice delicacy (kuih) factory, whilst Alfie & Owen pressed onward to Kuala Kedah on the mainland and then headed directly to catch an overnight bus to the capital, Kuala Lumpur, where they took an excursion to see the Petronas Towers.
[19] The duo opted to stick to the western coast and initially headed to Padang to assist some local fishermen in exchange for bed and board before catching a nineteen-hour bus to Bengkulu to earn some more money, this time cleaning surfboards.
Due to the lack of spoken English, Betty & James accidentally found themselves travelling backwards for three hours to Solok near Bukittinggi, but were fortunate to find an overnight bus to the coal-mining town of Muara Enim, where they took another opportunity to replenish funds, this time working in a restaurant that specialised in Tahu sumedang.
The final leg of the race began on day 46, only a few hours after the arrival of Stephen & Viv at the Orient hotel in Jakarta, with Alfie & Owen finding out that the initial destination would be Bangsal on the island of Lombok, 1,400 kilometres (870 mi) to the east.
When Eugenie & Isabel reached Semarang, they were prevented from travelling to Malang until the next morning so they took the opportunity to take in the sights including Blenduk church and the Sam Poo Kong shrine.
The only team to take the more touristy southern route were Stephen & Viv, who with the healthiest budget decided to forgo any work opportunities and headed to Yogyakarta via Bandung where they went to see the nearby stratovolcano of Tangkuban Perahu.
In the downtime between transport connections, Eugenie & Isabel visited the Jodipan neighbourhood with its colourful houses where they discovered Alfie & Owen painting the properties to earn extra cash.
Having arrived in the dead of night, the best friends were unable to take a boat to Gili Meno, a small island offshore, as instructed until services resumed the next morning, by which time Eugenie & Isabel had caught up.
