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The first part of the Burma (Myanmar) Special follows the trio as they traverse harsh terrain in their customized trucks on a quest to reach the River Kwai. Along the way, they face mechanical failures, extreme conditions, and unpredictable roads.

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Top Gear Season 21, Top Gear S21E06, Top Gear Burma Special, Top Gear Myanmar Part 1, River Kwai challenge, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May, Top Gear adventure, Top Gear road trip
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Transcript
00:00:00MUSIC
00:00:19Say hello. Hello, everybody.
00:00:21Thank you very much. Thank you.
00:00:24Big welcome.
00:00:26Huh?
00:00:27Big welcome.
00:00:29Thank you and welcome.
00:00:31Welcome to what is a very special show,
00:00:34because it is our Christmas special.
00:00:38Yeah, and this year it's a little bit different.
00:00:41Yeah, because it's actually the middle of March.
00:00:43It is, yeah.
00:00:44Right, the main reason it's a little bit different
00:00:46is because our producers have told us
00:00:48that we should try our hands at long-distance lorry driving.
00:00:52Literally, my idea of heaven.
00:00:55Yeah, they told us each to buy a truck
00:00:58and report with it to what the BBC calls
00:01:01the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.
00:01:04But everybody else calls it Burma.
00:01:07Burma.
00:01:18The meeting point was a giant parade ground
00:01:20in the middle of the old capital city, Rangoon.
00:01:25and I was the first to arrive.
00:01:38I've bought a stereo.
00:01:40I have a speaker system here in the roof.
00:01:43The passenger seat has been replaced with a subwoofer
00:01:47and there are two amps with a combined power of 2,300 watts.
00:01:53And the best thing is, included in the price was this comb
00:01:57and an entire lorry.
00:02:01It was built in 1959 or 1976.
00:02:11People are a bit hazy on that.
00:02:12What we do know for sure is that Isuzu made the mud flaps,
00:02:16which is odd because it says Mitsubishi on the axles.
00:02:20Ooh!
00:02:22Is that James?
00:02:23It is James!
00:02:29Didn't really call that for a lorry.
00:02:35Morning.
00:02:36Van, mate.
00:02:38What?
00:02:39We had to bring lorries.
00:02:40That is a lorry.
00:02:41A van.
00:02:42Technically it's a crane, actually.
00:02:43I've bought a crane.
00:02:44Oh, is that what that is?
00:02:45Look at that.
00:02:46A crane, two winches, hydraulic rams, legs
00:02:50and it had the latest in high-tech dashboards.
00:02:55That's a mess.
00:02:56No.
00:02:57Isn't this going to drive your OCD mad?
00:02:59Well, I've put labels on things, you know,
00:03:01corresponding to what I think they do.
00:03:03What's that?
00:03:04I've got one of those in my lorry.
00:03:05I don't know.
00:03:06I've had to put a question mark on it.
00:03:07Mine is a sports lorry.
00:03:09Straight six, rear-wheel drive, twin exhaust.
00:03:13BMW 325i and this.
00:03:16Almost identical.
00:03:18Banging stereo.
00:03:20Really?
00:03:21Seriously.
00:03:23Do you want to hear it?
00:03:25Not really.
00:03:26I expect it to start.
00:03:36Anyway, I'm sure that won't become annoying at all.
00:03:38I need to ask you a question.
00:03:40What?
00:03:41Why are you wearing a tie?
00:03:42Because I'm a modern lorry driver and modern lorry drivers are crisp and sharp.
00:03:47The days are over when you simply turned up with a glove box full of strong pornography and egg on your vest.
00:03:55At this point, Hammond arrived with a glove box full of strong pornography and egg on his vest.
00:04:01Ahem.
00:04:02What do you think?
00:04:03What is it?
00:04:04A lorry or a Hindu temple?
00:04:05This has been extensively modded.
00:04:08How did it?
00:04:09Not just the visual improvements.
00:04:10They are significant.
00:04:11The lights, the little sturdy things.
00:04:14But, note.
00:04:15Oh, God.
00:04:16All of that favour arrangement, right?
00:04:18It's a farm truck.
00:04:19Yeah.
00:04:20And that's so it can accommodate those low-density big loads.
00:04:23Oh, big loads of what?
00:04:24Well, crops.
00:04:25What crop?
00:04:26Here, in Burma.
00:04:27Home of the Golden Triangle.
00:04:28Hey.
00:04:29No.
00:04:30Or turnips.
00:04:31No.
00:04:32Kale.
00:04:33No, heroin.
00:04:34That's all they really grow here.
00:04:35You bought a heroin lorry.
00:04:36It's a lot of heroin in there, wouldn't you?
00:04:38Hammond, it's...
00:04:39This seat...
00:04:40Yeah.
00:04:41Is...
00:04:42Well, let's be honest, it's a church pew.
00:04:43Yeah.
00:04:44It looks like the sort of railway carriage that Agatha Christie went about in.
00:04:47Let's have a look at what we've got.
00:04:48James has bought a van.
00:04:50Has he parked it a long way away or is it that small?
00:04:53As we were admiring the paintwork on Jeremy's lorry, our challenge arrived.
00:04:59Oh, I'm quite excited, actually, come to think of it, cos, I mean, we're here with these.
00:05:06In 1943, British, Australian and Dutch prisoners of war were forced by their Japanese captors
00:05:13to build the Burma railway across South East Asia.
00:05:17Their efforts and their suffering were immortalised in the film Bridge on the River Kwai.
00:05:22That's what you're going to do.
00:05:24You're going to build a river bridge which is strong enough to support the weight of your
00:05:29lorries.
00:05:30I don't know anything about bridge building.
00:05:33Build a bridge?
00:05:34How big a bridge are we going to have to build?
00:05:36Yeah, how big it is?
00:05:37How much does yours weigh?
00:05:38About a thousand tonnes.
00:05:39I'm afraid it gets worse.
00:05:41You know they said long-distance lorry driving?
00:05:43Yeah.
00:05:44The only trouble is that you have to drive to the river in question, which is in Thailand.
00:05:51Well, the River Kwai is not in Thailand.
00:05:53Yes, it is.
00:05:54The River Kwai is in Thailand.
00:05:55Is it?
00:05:56Yeah.
00:05:57No, no.
00:05:58I promise you, the River Kwai.
00:05:59Everyone thinks it's Burma.
00:06:00It isn't.
00:06:01It's Thailand.
00:06:02So, we're going to go and build a bridge over the River Kwai.
00:06:05Like Alec Guinness.
00:06:06I don't know how to build a bridge.
00:06:09In high spirits, the journey began.
00:06:20We are off.
00:06:22Oh, yeah.
00:06:28We worked out that the most sensible way of getting to the river was to head right across
00:06:33Burma to its northernmost border crossing with Thailand.
00:06:39On this epic 1,200-mile journey, we would find strange new cities with no-one in them.
00:06:46Cross mountain ranges straight out of Jurassic Park, fought disease-filled rivers,
00:06:52and attend a party which made the scene at the end of Apocalypse Now look like a quiet night in.
00:06:59And we'd have to do it all in lorries which, right at the start, weren't really working properly.
00:07:05For our gauges, nothing works. Nothing at all. Not one of them. Not fuel gauge, oil, oil pressure, charge, vacuum, temperature. Nothing works.
00:07:18Nothing works.
00:07:21Oh, what a bum.
00:07:24Ah, that's not it.
00:07:26There's no synchromash on this gearbox, so when you go from third to second or whatever, you have to go...
00:07:33Oh, bloody door. A double D clutch.
00:07:36Like that.
00:07:38Totally smoother.
00:07:40Oh, I can't get up, I can't get up.
00:07:42Oh!
00:07:47Oh, God.
00:07:49How fast am I going?
00:07:51I don't know, speedo doesn't work.
00:07:54Oh, by giddy art, the ride is shocking.
00:07:58Argh!
00:08:00Possibly a bit of play in the steering.
00:08:03Let me talk you through my brakes.
00:08:07Um, they don't really work.
00:08:09I've got three centimetres of pebble travel where nothing happens,
00:08:13and then a millimetre, and it all happens when the wheels lock up.
00:08:19There's no handbrake, and I'm not being stupid. I've looked everywhere.
00:08:22There isn't a psss one, there isn't a hand one, there isn't a switch.
00:08:26And, on top of the mechanical problems, we had to deal with Rangoon's pedestrians.
00:08:34Stop wandering about in the road.
00:08:39Whoa, a grandad's just walked by the child right underneath your lorry.
00:08:43Whoa, somebody else just did it.
00:08:46Pedestrians have no concept of traffic. None at all.
00:08:51And there was another issue.
00:08:55One of the reasons that driving here is so difficult
00:09:00is because everybody, as you can see, has right-hand drive cars,
00:09:05but they drive on the right.
00:09:07Whoa!
00:09:09And this is because, for 46 years, Burma was run by a chap called General Neh Nguyen,
00:09:15who was a proper lunatic.
00:09:17He was guided mostly either by his dreams or by his astrologist.
00:09:25One morning, he woke up and he thought,
00:09:29my country is slipping too far to the left politically,
00:09:33so I shall correct this by forcing everybody to drive
00:09:37on the right-hand side of the road.
00:09:40This makes life particularly difficult for bus passengers.
00:09:44In a minute, we'll see a bus pulled up at the side of the road,
00:09:48at a bus stop.
00:09:50But all the people will be getting out into the road
00:09:52because the bus used to go on the left, so the door's on.
00:09:55That's just complete madness.
00:09:59You may be wondering why, today, people don't buy
00:10:03left-hand-drive cars.
00:10:05And if I'm honest, I'm wondering that as well.
00:10:11Our worst problem, however, was that James was navigating.
00:10:16James, can I say, this can't be right.
00:10:20Sorry!
00:10:22Sorry!
00:10:23Oh, God.
00:10:24How does James ever land his aeroplane where he wants to be?
00:10:31Right. Should be this way.
00:10:34It wasn't.
00:10:36Oh, well, I ain't even fit down there.
00:10:44Mind that sign on your right, Hammers.
00:10:47Oh, this is ridiculously tight.
00:10:50As I sorted out some compensation for the damaged fruit...
00:10:56Oh, I see. It was not enough.
00:10:58Hammond was discovering, for the very first time,
00:11:01the problems of being tall.
00:11:03Hold on a second. These wires are...
00:11:05These are too low.
00:11:07Oh, God.
00:11:09But I'm thinking, if I crane out...
00:11:13It's only this one, isn't it?
00:11:14Yeah, lift that, you come underneath, I'll drop it on you,
00:11:17and then it'll just slide along your rails.
00:11:19Do it!
00:11:21How about...
00:11:23five crisp English pounds?
00:11:27Keep coming.
00:11:29Keep coming.
00:11:35I haven't been electrocuted yet.
00:11:36I haven't been electrocuted yet.
00:11:38Still haven't been electrocuted.
00:11:43I don't like it!
00:11:44Oh!
00:11:45Everyone's gonna die!
00:11:46Oh, why'd you...
00:11:47Whoa!
00:11:48You've ripped a hole in the top of my truck!
00:11:50James?
00:11:52Oh, why'd you...
00:11:53Whoa!
00:11:54Your lorry's moving, James.
00:11:56You've winched yourself into my lorry.
00:11:58Look at your handbrake, Bob.
00:11:59It hasn't got a handbrake.
00:12:01Could mean it hasn't got a handbrake.
00:12:02It hasn't got a handbrake.
00:12:04We were causing chaos.
00:12:12It's broken.
00:12:22Whoa!
00:12:23What was that?
00:12:25James, I've got a headache.
00:12:26I've never concentrated this hard!
00:12:33Sorry.
00:12:34I don't think it'll go through there, mate.
00:12:39Oh, sorry.
00:12:41Sorry.
00:12:45Still, the good news is we've done two miles.
00:12:47Mercifully, we eventually broke free from the narrow streets.
00:12:56I'm in agony.
00:12:58Left foot with endless gear check.
00:13:00Oh!
00:13:02Reverse.
00:13:06Oh!
00:13:07Hang on a minute.
00:13:08If I engage the low range, then I can put it in third gear and basically leave it there all day.
00:13:18Aha!
00:13:20How brilliant is this?
00:13:23Oh, yeah.
00:13:25No more gear changing.
00:13:26It doesn't feel very low range to me.
00:13:32What is it if it isn't a low range gearbox?
00:13:37Oh, my God!
00:13:41My truck has split in half.
00:13:54After I had explained to Jeremy that he'd bought a tipper lorry, I then had to deal with C.W. McCaw on the CB radio.
00:14:07Hey, James.
00:14:09Hello.
00:14:11I've got it.
00:14:13You've got it?
00:14:15Yeah, my handle.
00:14:17I'm going to be called Fighting Peacock.
00:14:20Can I just abbreviate that to cock?
00:14:22What are you going to be?
00:14:24I thought I'd be James, because that's my name.
00:14:27Fighting Peacock.
00:14:32On the outskirts of Rangoon, we came across a memorial to the 27,000 Commonwealth soldiers who died here in the Second World War.
00:14:41It was a timely reminder that the Bridge on the River Kwai was rather more than a Sunday afternoon movie.
00:14:50A hefty Japanese sergeant moved into position, lifted his pick handle and delivered a blow across Smith's back that would have laid out a bull.
00:15:00All the thugs now set to in earnest. Soon little could be seen but the rise and fall of pick-helves above the heads of the group.
00:15:08And there were sickening thugs as blows went home on the squirming, kicking body, periodically pulled back onto its feet only to be knocked down again.
00:15:15Bill Smith cried out repeatedly that he was 50 years of age, appealing for mercy but to no array.
00:15:28The tragedy is that all of those 27,000 men died fighting for the liberation of Burma.
00:15:35Straight after the war, Britain got rid of it and then it fell into the hands of a tin-pot dictator and mystic Meg.
00:15:46With James still map-reading, we headed out into the countryside, where we hoped the driving would be less stressful.
00:15:53That's my first lock-up, total lock-up.
00:16:09I've lost second gear, there it is.
00:16:12Jeremy, that was overtaking you. He's mad.
00:16:15Yeah, look, I can't. I'm trying to change gear.
00:16:26The miles and the hours rolled by.
00:16:40Ow! Ow!
00:16:42Knee! Ow!
00:16:45I'm sitting on a church pew, for God's sake!
00:16:48My knee.
00:16:50Oh!
00:16:52Ow! Ow!
00:16:53Knee!
00:16:54Ow!
00:16:58That is the going down of the sun.
00:17:02It's fabulous. Look at that.
00:17:13However, when the sun had finished going down, things weren't so fabulous.
00:17:22That girl on that bike is just invisible.
00:17:26There's a moped there with no lights on, and a bicycle there with no lights on, and I can't really see them, because my headlights are, well, they're glow worms in jam jars.
00:17:44Can you see anything, Hammond?
00:17:46Not a thing. Literally just my own stupid reflection in my windscreen.
00:17:57Jeez.
00:17:59I'm so frightened of running over a pedestrian, I'm not even worried about my knee any more.
00:18:10Whoa!
00:18:12The local attitude to headlights would appear to be full beam or off.
00:18:24There you go, a lorry with one central headlamp.
00:18:27So you think it's a motorbike until the last second, and then, no, it's a massive truck!
00:18:39Oh, bloody tired.
00:18:42I've now been driving today for exactly 12 hours.
00:18:46That would be illegal in Britain.
00:18:49But we are now very close to the overnight hotel.
00:18:52Two agonising hours later, we've reached it.
00:19:12Ningalaba.
00:19:14Do you know what? This is like a trucker's place.
00:19:17Are we staying here?
00:19:19The producers said yes, and that our room was upstairs.
00:19:24Oh, it's not so bad.
00:19:26Is it not so bad?
00:19:28Yeah.
00:19:48Oh, God.
00:19:59Worst night's sleep in history.
00:20:01It wasn't sleep.
00:20:03This lot.
00:20:05What were they doing?
00:20:10That.
00:20:12Look what I've done.
00:20:13It's a leg brace, so I'll change gear.
00:20:18So it supports my knee.
00:20:22Let me just move on and erase it.
00:20:25You know those ice road truckers?
00:20:27They're always going, well, you've got a real tough job, you know, thick and sharp.
00:20:32Because I don't suspect that the ice road truckers have to sleep like this chap here.
00:20:36Look at him.
00:20:42Before leaving, I checked the map to see how far we'd come.
00:20:46No.
00:20:48No.
00:20:50Here?
00:20:52You sure?
00:20:54He's here?
00:20:55Show me.
00:20:57Hammond?
00:20:59This is where we begin.
00:21:01We're heading for here, or up here, around here.
00:21:03So where do you think we are, then, on this road?
00:21:05No.
00:21:07We're here.
00:21:09You know that fork when we left Rangoon, when James went left, all of yesterday, we drove up here. What was it? 14, 15 hours?
00:21:29Yeah, but...
00:21:31You're on the way to Bangladesh.
00:21:35James suggested we go all the way back to Rangoon and start again.
00:21:40But I fired him as navigator and said we should take a small road over the hills to get back on course.
00:21:50This would mean driving deep into the sticks.
00:21:53Seems to be a bit of a tradition here for riding on a lorry rather than necessarily in it.
00:22:03I've just seen three or four blokes on the top of the cab of a lorry.
00:22:08So if he breaks suddenly...
00:22:12We all get run over, I suppose.
00:22:16Still, could be worse.
00:22:19Whoa.
00:22:23I'm not a young man and I'm not a fit man, I'll be honest.
00:22:29And I am suffering in here. This ride is really brutal.
00:22:34Now, the problem is...
00:22:36...that the sports lorry was designed to work for a living.
00:22:39It was designed to have five or six tonnes of stuff in the back.
00:22:43And without that weight, it's just bouncing all over the place.
00:22:48Obviously, I didn't want to admit this to my colleagues.
00:22:51So, when we stopped for tea, I tried discreetly to rectify the problem.
00:22:59Ha!
00:23:04Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
00:23:06He's putting bricks in the back of his truck to weigh down and improve the ride, doesn't he?
00:23:10Let me see.
00:23:12He doesn't need a lot of bricks.
00:23:14Having come to the same conclusion, I decided to borrow James's complicated crane.
00:23:22I can't stand watching this.
00:23:23Right.
00:23:24What the hell's happening?
00:23:25I can't stand watching this.
00:23:26Right.
00:23:27I'll go see a little bit more.
00:23:30What the hell's happening?
00:23:33Right.
00:23:50What the hell's happening?
00:23:52What have you done, you moron?
00:23:55I think you've actually caught your own lorry.
00:23:59Stop! Help!
00:24:03Save the day.
00:24:10Hi, there. Stop!
00:24:12Put it down. You'll break the gym off the crane.
00:24:16That is lack of my lorry.
00:24:17Well, I've just saved the day by tipping my lorry up.
00:24:21Those bricks have fallen out and the handbrake's not on.
00:24:23What have you done?
00:24:26It is on.
00:24:28At this point, I opted for a less high-tech solution.
00:24:33Yeah.
00:24:38And after they'd loaded a tonne of bricks in the back,
00:24:41there was a noticeable difference.
00:24:46It's not perfect, but it's a hell of a lot better.
00:24:50If I put more weights in, it'll be even more comfortable.
00:24:53So, at the next village, I bought some of the region's special seeds.
00:25:02What's he doing?
00:25:05He thinks he's bought some heroin.
00:25:07I have.
00:25:08See?
00:25:08I have bought heroin.
00:25:10It's rice.
00:25:11It isn't rice.
00:25:11This is rice.
00:25:12This is rice.
00:25:13Richard Hammond, trust me on this, on the streets of London,
00:25:18this has a value of Β£12 million.
00:25:24No, mate.
00:25:26On the shelves of Tesco, that has a value of about fibre.
00:25:29It's not rice.
00:25:30Are you going to cut it with peas?
00:25:37With the heroin loaded, I found a heavy old tree stump
00:25:41and asked James to crane it on board as well.
00:25:45I'm so unbelievably happy.
00:25:47With the sports lorry fully loaded, it was transformed.
00:25:56Oh, yeah.
00:25:59First bump, I shan't even feel it, because the ride is sublime.
00:26:05The ride of a Rolls-Royce Phantom.
00:26:09However, on the hills, there was a bit of a downside.
00:26:15Hello, James and Richard.
00:26:17What?
00:26:20This is my new top speed.
00:26:23Oh, God, I thought we were stuck behind a moped.
00:26:25I couldn't see.
00:26:26Is this it?
00:26:28Yes.
00:26:30You're a right dipstick.
00:26:33Yes.
00:26:36And because the road was so narrow, we couldn't get past it.
00:26:40Uh-oh.
00:26:43Steep gradient there.
00:26:48Foot's hard down.
00:26:53Deary me, we're in trouble here.
00:26:55Oh, this is ridiculous.
00:26:57Hardly moving.
00:26:59No, we've had it.
00:27:09You're going to have to back up.
00:27:11I need a run-up for this bit.
00:27:13What?
00:27:14I can't...
00:27:14It won't go up this hill.
00:27:15You're going to have to back up.
00:27:17No.
00:27:17This hill's gone on for about a mile through hairpins.
00:27:20I'm not reversing back that.
00:27:21I'm just not.
00:27:22James, could you explain the situation to him?
00:27:23I can't go forwards.
00:27:27No, I can't back up either.
00:27:28A, Adam's in the way, and B, I can't be bothered.
00:27:32It's round bends.
00:27:33There's people on bikes.
00:27:34No.
00:27:37Well, there's only one thing for it, then.
00:27:39I have to lose weight.
00:27:40No, Jeremy, that's not...
00:27:49That's not the...
00:28:00You are a complete child.
00:28:02A petulant child.
00:28:04You wanted me to move out of your way.
00:28:12I am now able to move out of your way.
00:28:23Look at this.
00:28:24Yes!
00:28:27This lorry is now scampering up these hills.
00:28:30Yes, sir.
00:28:38Right.
00:28:39Well...
00:28:41On.
00:28:42To.
00:28:50Stopping to mend my tailgate allowed the others to catch up.
00:28:54And when they did, they weren't in the best of moons.
00:28:57I've got a new handle for you on the CV.
00:29:01It's called Selfish B******.
00:29:05And things didn't improve a few miles later,
00:29:08when the hill route I'd selected went a bit wrong.
00:29:15Your road is sort of not a road, is it?
00:29:18Let's be honest.
00:29:18It's not really a road here at all, we've got a ford.
00:29:29And here we go, into the water.
00:29:37Lots of wheelspin sliding badly.
00:29:39Oh, yes.
00:29:44The sports lorry is clear, it's through.
00:29:50It's time for the smug face.
00:29:55Mr. Slooley went next, in his van.
00:29:57That's quite clunky.
00:30:15It's wet.
00:30:16If something's stuck there, I can feel it.
00:30:18We'll break the front axle off.
00:30:20Hammond immediately rushed to May's aid.
00:30:23Ramming.
00:30:24Stop!
00:30:29James then tried to winch himself off,
00:30:31using Hammond's truck as a ground anchor.
00:30:36Ted Nugent and George Michael are helping one another out.
00:30:43After this failed, I tried to tow him clear.
00:30:46Three, two, one, now.
00:30:50But that didn't work either.
00:30:51Stop!
00:30:56He then decided to use his crane,
00:30:58which immediately broke.
00:31:04He really was stuck,
00:31:06so we were forced to take drastic action.
00:31:11Hammond and I have had a bit of a chat,
00:31:12and we are, um...
00:31:15Well, we're leaving him.
00:31:17He has bought a van that has no traction at all,
00:31:22no ability to work off-road,
00:31:24and now no hydraulics.
00:31:26So none of his tools work.
00:31:28You've got to be ruthless in these circumstances.
00:31:30With his crane, he was useful.
00:31:32Without it, it's just another mouth to feed.
00:31:37I settled in for another stint
00:31:40with the world's most cooperative gearbox.
00:31:43Oh, bollocks.
00:31:45Missed again.
00:31:47Nothing there.
00:31:49Nothing there. There it is.
00:31:51Mind you, on these twisty roads,
00:31:53life was even worse for Hammond.
00:31:55This is really annoying.
00:31:58Still, at least I was moving.
00:32:03The situation report.
00:32:05I've been rescued by a very helpful local man with his truck,
00:32:09so I don't know his name,
00:32:11and he's lent me this arc welder
00:32:13to repair the shaft that drives the pump
00:32:15that makes the crane work.
00:32:16With that done, my fellow knight of the road
00:32:26towed me back to firmer ground.
00:32:30And then we're free.
00:32:33I must remember to say 1,000 jezebus to this man.
00:32:39Miles ahead, in the advance party,
00:32:42we were really starting to climb.
00:32:45Oh, ho, ho!
00:32:47Wow!
00:32:51The views were stunning.
00:32:55And at the top of the hill,
00:32:57we pulled over for a bit of a look.
00:33:05You know, we always say that Italy is God's racetrack.
00:33:08Canada's his pantry.
00:33:10Germany's his workshop.
00:33:12That's his garden.
00:33:17Absolutely staggering.
00:33:20Captain Traction would have enjoyed this view very much.
00:33:24However...
00:33:33Bollocks.
00:33:42The local cloak with the digger is giving me a little leg up there.
00:33:54It's great, isn't it?
00:33:56This must be Buddhism in action.
00:33:59I might convert...
00:34:01from whatever I already have.
00:34:02Yeah.
00:34:04Very, very far ahead.
00:34:06Hammond and I had finally found the road we should have been on in the first place.
00:34:10We'll put it in the top here.
00:34:26There it is.
00:34:28How are ya?
00:34:30That sounds terrible.
00:34:32It's like being back in Spain.
00:34:36Nothing on it.
00:34:40Regrouped, we continued onwards.
00:34:43Our destination?
00:34:45Burma's brand-new capital city.
00:34:46De Pidor.
00:34:48Here, the producers had once again lined up a hovel for us to stay in.
00:35:02But we were hot, filthy and worn out.
00:35:05So we ignored them and headed for the best hotel in town.
00:35:12A flushing lavatory.
00:35:15Oh, rest my weary head.
00:35:18Having first filled it with gin.
00:35:23Oh, listen to that rain.
00:35:26Oh, it's a bit like a shower, shall we have it?
00:35:2930 seconds.
00:35:31Our only problem was that two of us weren't exactly dressed for a place like this.
00:35:38Let me do the talking.
00:35:40Evening, sir.
00:35:42Three rooms, please.
00:35:45Sorry to be...
00:35:47No more rooms, sir.
00:35:48The next morning, after another dreadful night, we decided enough was enough.
00:36:04And agreed we should modify our lorries to make them more suitable for our travels through Burma.
00:36:25So we found a workshop, hired some local help, toiled through the night.
00:36:30And the next morning, the job was done.
00:36:38Every modification I've made is inspired by my desire not to run over any of the locals.
00:36:44So it has, for example, Buddha looking down, a lucky elephant, the lucky owl, which is very important.
00:36:50It has better mirrors, better lights, and it's wearing a high visibility jacket.
00:36:54Yes, that is a you.
00:36:55What is the boiler in the back?
00:36:56Are you brewing beer?
00:36:58No, sadly, it's the water tank for the brake cooling system.
00:37:02What, like racing lorries have?
00:37:04Exactly like that.
00:37:05It sprays, I've got a little switch in the cab, sprays water on the drums, makes them more efficient downhill.
00:37:09I didn't think of that.
00:37:11What's the box?
00:37:13Air conditioning.
00:37:14What's that got to do with safety?
00:37:15Keeps me alert.
00:37:16Does it?
00:37:17Yes.
00:37:18And keeps him alert as well?
00:37:19Because he'll want to break it.
00:37:20Yes.
00:37:22Jeremy then showed us his work.
00:37:24Why would you not have a convertible lorry?
00:37:32This is raining.
00:37:33Look at it!
00:37:35It's quite good, actually.
00:37:36It's very good.
00:37:37Shelby striping.
00:37:38Yeah.
00:37:39Sports badging on the side.
00:37:41Living accommodation at the back.
00:37:42This is fashioned from lead and rhodium.
00:37:44Is it?
00:37:45Yes.
00:37:46For extra weight to improve my ride.
00:37:47Come back.
00:37:49Simple, crisp accommodation inside.
00:37:53Shelby bedding.
00:37:54And ebony wood floor.
00:37:56More weight.
00:37:58Come on.
00:37:59It looks brilliant.
00:38:01As it must be said, did Hammonds.
00:38:04Hammonds, you've got white walls.
00:38:06Oh, yeah.
00:38:07Yeah.
00:38:08The duckling has become a swan.
00:38:09Wow.
00:38:10Yeah.
00:38:11Check out the stacks.
00:38:13Please don't tell me they're exhausts.
00:38:14Yep.
00:38:15Both sides.
00:38:16Well, actually, funk, they are.
00:38:17Yep.
00:38:18There's a T-junction there.
00:38:19Hang on.
00:38:20You've made it even taller.
00:38:21I am.
00:38:22Bigger than it.
00:38:23It's better.
00:38:24It's better.
00:38:25But, come round about.
00:38:26Honestly, you did a little skip then.
00:38:27You did a skip.
00:38:28You must be very excited.
00:38:29I am very, very...
00:38:31What I have here, this is the bathroom area.
00:38:34Yeah.
00:38:35This is our Scottish shower.
00:38:37Where's the water come from?
00:38:38Ha-ha!
00:38:39Ha-ha!
00:38:40Yourself, there is, up the top, a reservoir.
00:38:42About so big, on my viewing gallery.
00:38:44Hammond, it's a bucket.
00:38:46It's a...
00:38:47It's a bucket.
00:38:48It's a remote reservoir.
00:38:49It's...
00:38:50And that is, right now, collecting beautiful, crisp, clean, fresh, invigorating rainwater.
00:38:55This is the kitchen area, with lino to reflect that.
00:38:57What's that?
00:38:58Over there is a wardrobe.
00:38:59There is a hammock with mosquito net built in.
00:39:01Drinks globe on the right.
00:39:03And Hammond wasn't finished.
00:39:06From up here, on a sunny evening, I can sit here as the sun goes down, gaze at the stars and enjoy a drink from my drinks globe.
00:39:13Do you take visitors?
00:39:14Yeah.
00:39:15I think he's going to have to, because something's just occurred to me.
00:39:18What?
00:39:19You haven't got any living accommodation.
00:39:21That's a very good point.
00:39:22Why have you forgotten it, you idiot?
00:39:24No, I haven't.
00:39:27Well, you have.
00:39:28Are you sleeping in the cab?
00:39:30Because it's not going to be comfortable.
00:39:31Let's see.
00:39:32Oh, my God.
00:39:33Before we set off, I gave the chap some presents.
00:39:36You bought us a teddy bear?
00:39:38No, that's for me.
00:39:39Is it?
00:39:40Yeah, that's my bonnet ornament.
00:39:42Are you feeling alone?
00:39:43It's your what?
00:39:44Bonnet ornament for weight.
00:39:45It's the heaviest teddy bear in Burma.
00:39:48I've got Hammond a bonnet ornament, too.
00:39:51Oh!
00:39:52Wow, that's beautiful.
00:39:54I know you don't have a clock, so you'll have it on the bonnet.
00:39:57You'll be able to tell the time.
00:39:59Oh, it really is.
00:40:00It's a high-quality gift.
00:40:03Oh, fantastic.
00:40:05I've always wanted a Schwanglin hammer.
00:40:07It's from my own personal collection.
00:40:12Having christened my bear Rudyard and attached him to the sports lorry,
00:40:15we set off.
00:40:19Oh, this feels better already.
00:40:22Oh, hang on.
00:40:24Whoa!
00:40:26Richard Hammond is doing a remake of the Poseidon Adventure.
00:40:32We had many miles to cover,
00:40:34but first we had to get through Napierdor's morning rush hour.
00:40:38This rush hour traffic's not as bad as I thought.
00:40:48The roads were completely empty and massive.
00:40:52One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
00:41:09Yep.
00:41:10Sixteen lanes now.
00:41:15Wait, it's gone bigger.
00:41:18Five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
00:41:20Twenty.
00:41:21It's twenty lanes now.
00:41:24This may look stupid and pointless,
00:41:26but actually it really isn't.
00:41:30The problem with most cities is that the growth comes
00:41:33and the city simply can't accommodate it.
00:41:35That, London, Rome, Paris, Bangkok, everywhere.
00:41:39That is not going to happen here.
00:41:44I think this must be the first city built entirely
00:41:46in anticipation of the future.
00:41:51But the future hasn't arrived yet.
00:41:56So, for now, the whole place is almost completely deserted.
00:42:05Even here, in the shadow of the Parliament building,
00:42:08we were able to have a game of football
00:42:11in the middle of the road.
00:42:12Officer.
00:42:13It's the Burmese police versus Top Gear.
00:42:15Oh, no.
00:42:16Russia, game over.
00:42:17Look at it, traffic.
00:42:18Really, though, it was too wet for football.
00:42:19So much to Hammond's annoyance,
00:42:20we organised a city centre drag race.
00:42:21This doesn't seem fair.
00:42:22This doesn't seem fair.
00:42:23I've got the same 6.4 litre ICs
00:42:24and it's Jeremy's and probably James's.
00:42:25But the lumber bus is bigger.
00:42:28We're not going to cover ourselves in glory here, old girl.
00:42:31No!
00:42:32No!
00:42:33Stop!
00:42:34No!
00:42:35No!
00:42:36Stop!
00:42:37Disastrous start!
00:42:38There it is!
00:42:39Our heads!
00:42:40No!
00:42:41No!
00:42:42No!
00:42:43Stop!
00:42:44Disastrous start!
00:42:45There it is!
00:42:46Our heads!
00:42:47This is gonna hurt.
00:42:48You're gonna have to go hard.
00:42:49Ah!
00:42:50Ah!
00:42:51Sports truck is gaining.
00:42:52Gaining?
00:42:53No!
00:42:54No!
00:42:55No!
00:42:56No!
00:42:57No!
00:42:58No!
00:42:59No!
00:43:00No!
00:43:01No!
00:43:02No!
00:43:03No!
00:43:04No!
00:43:05No!
00:43:06No!
00:43:07No!
00:43:08No!
00:43:09No!
00:43:10No!
00:43:11No!
00:43:12No!
00:43:13No!
00:43:14No!
00:43:15No!
00:43:16No!
00:43:17Gaining!
00:43:18Gaining!
00:43:19Gaining!
00:43:20Gaining!
00:43:21No!
00:43:26115 kilometres an hour!
00:43:29Come on!
00:43:30Yes!
00:43:37Oh, victory is sweet.
00:43:40Second place.
00:43:42But I have gotta crack.
00:43:44Must break!
00:43:45Must break!
00:43:46Oh, a football under the brake pedal. That's bad.
00:43:52Hammond, have you finished yet?
00:43:59Still going.
00:44:03After Hammond had lumbered across the line, we headed out of Napierdor
00:44:08and soon we started to discover some flaws with our modifications.
00:44:12Oh, my... No, I mean, there's no weight.
00:44:21I'm speaking to you now from underneath my businessman's umbrella.
00:44:26It's taken the water about 15 minutes to fathom it out,
00:44:30but it's in here now and it's in in great quantity.
00:44:35Oh, I can hear my exhaust into the tree.
00:44:42Hammond, you're doing the council out of a job, eh?
00:44:47It's like I'm driving through the aftermath of a hurricane.
00:44:51Let's be naming Pruning Peacock.
00:44:58Soon, though, James was punished for mocking.
00:45:04Captain Workmanship.
00:45:05There's a radiator hose. It's not a bit of touch.
00:45:11Oh, we have a tradition.
00:45:13Oh, no! How am I going to do it without them?
00:45:16Leaving James to deliver an interesting lecture.
00:45:20If you're watching this from an engineering workshop or technical college,
00:45:23this is not the correct tool for the job.
00:45:25We continued on our way.
00:45:27I think a lot of the fumes are coming into the cab for my new stack.
00:45:43Not all of my improvements have turned out to be improvements.
00:45:48The simple tradition of the British dustman putting a teddy bear on the front of the lorry
00:46:01is bringing joy to the children of Burma.
00:46:05They love Rugyard.
00:46:06By mid-afternoon, we were all reunited, and James took advantage of my mobile maintenance service.
00:46:22This isn't perilous at all.
00:46:25It falls about three or four inches.
00:46:28Too far.
00:46:29Soon, the roads started to climb, and as night fell, I turned on the roof lights that I'd fitted myself.
00:46:43Oh, yes.
00:46:48I'm driving a Pink Floyd gig right now.
00:46:59I love this.
00:47:01The noise, the chaos, the heat.
00:47:08I think I might have just lost one of them.
00:47:11Yeah, I did.
00:47:12I lost a stack.
00:47:14I'd better carry on.
00:47:16I'm just going to pretend I didn't.
00:47:21Meanwhile, in the darkness, James was coming over all Buddhist.
00:47:25Hang on, I've got a personal dog escort here.
00:47:32Shift your ass, dog.
00:47:36Oh, God, give me strength.
00:47:41I think that dog was inhabited by a benign spirit.
00:47:47Seriously, if that dog hadn't done that, I'd have gone onto the bridge,
00:47:51and I'd have hit the bus.
00:47:55Sadly, Buddhist dog wasn't around when, five miles later, I had another breakdown.
00:48:03That's what came off.
00:48:04That's the old one, which tore itself to shreds,
00:48:06and in the process, pulled the wire out of the sender for the temperature gauge,
00:48:11so I don't have that anymore.
00:48:13This lorry is crap.
00:48:17Up ahead, Richard and I were looking forward to a night in our new onboard accommodation.
00:48:22But thanks to the British Empire, we didn't need it.
00:48:33After a night here, 4,000 feet up a mountain in a small village in the middle of Burma,
00:48:38at this strangely odd but comfortable Bournemouth Hotel,
00:48:44we were feeling refreshed.
00:48:47And with Hammond leading, we were out of the village in a mere couple of hours.
00:48:53Hang on, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
00:48:57Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
00:48:59Oh, God.
00:49:00Oh, God.
00:49:01Go slowly.
00:49:03Okay?
00:49:04Yeah, okay.
00:49:05Oh, thank you.
00:49:06Keep going, hang on.
00:49:08Are we going to spend the whole day tit-toeing under telephone-wise?
00:49:12No, because you'll break down eventually.
00:49:21Okay, there's going to be a motorcycle just coming past you.
00:49:24Check out his helmet.
00:49:26That's quite a strong statement.
00:49:31After a quick map check, I decided we should take a tempting-looking shortcut.
00:49:37Right, follow me.
00:49:41Which went well.
00:49:46Oh, dear God.
00:49:47Any other adventures lined up on your shortcut, Jeremy?
00:49:54Landslides or avalanche?
00:50:02Just a tropical mountain shower, gone in a jiffy.
00:50:08Oh, maybe not.
00:50:12Well, this looks pretty terrible.
00:50:17Eventually, my scenic route brought us to a remote settlement
00:50:22that was very much off the grid.
00:50:30The thing is, in this little town, there'd be no low wires.
00:50:35Instead, there was something worse.
00:50:38Oh, no!
00:50:40Oh, no.
00:50:42Oh, this is bad.
00:50:44I'm stuck, I'm stuck.
00:50:48Hang on, I'll park up and come back on foot.
00:50:50Stand by.
00:50:53Bored with Hammond's chimney-related problems,
00:50:56I went on an explore
00:50:58and found some locals playing something that was nearly football.
00:51:05It was a brilliant idea.
00:51:07They're using a monk as a referee.
00:51:11And he's smoking.
00:51:12Back at the bridge, the villagers had broken out their toolbox.
00:51:30Really? If you're sure.
00:51:32OK.
00:51:34Move the entire sign.
00:51:36I wouldn't be this helpful.
00:51:38We know that.
00:51:40Meanwhile, I'd stumbled on a scene from an Indiana Jones movie.
00:51:53There's thousands of them.
00:51:55Tee-a-no, tee-a-no, tee-a-no, tee-a-no.
00:52:10That's hurry up. It's heavy.
00:52:12Oh, right. OK.
00:52:14How are we doing, James? I can't see.
00:52:16Yeah.
00:52:18OK.
00:52:19Yay!
00:52:24With the town behind us, progress was good.
00:52:28And then...
00:52:30it wasn't.
00:52:32My fuel gauge is...
00:52:35just on the top of the red.
00:52:38Erm, I don't have one.
00:52:41What I do have is the same engine as you, but a much heavier truck,
00:52:45so I must have used more.
00:52:49And out here on my shortcut, there were no filling stations at all.
00:52:56The needle is now nearly all in the red.
00:53:00Trying to use the tiniest throttle movements to just keep it ticking along.
00:53:07In the next village, James and I decided to pull over and dip our tanks.
00:53:13I've got no fuel.
00:53:16None?
00:53:18A smear on the end of the stick.
00:53:20What's the news?
00:53:22None. I mean, it's dry. I don't know what I'm running on.
00:53:24If you actually run a diesel out, you've got to bleed the system, haven't you?
00:53:27That's really bad.
00:53:29And it's ours.
00:53:31Well, look, why don't you just go and snout around the village and see if you can find some?
00:53:33Why me?
00:53:35Because you're the youngest and the fittest.
00:53:37Well, it's your fault we're in this situation. It's your shortcut.
00:53:38Seriously.
00:53:40If somebody's going to go, it's you, mate.
00:53:44Right, right, I'll go. Fuel. Diesel.
00:53:47And as much as you can.
00:53:48Yes, diesel.
00:53:50What is Burmese for diesel?
00:53:52How do you mind diesel?
00:53:53Mind the lorry, mind the lorry, and then do that.
00:53:57Right, so I'm a butler with Parkinson's and I've got a gun.
00:54:00Jeremy headed off and was gone for quite some time.
00:54:10Still quite hot, that.
00:54:16Done the oil.
00:54:18Have you? Are you reading Bridge on the River Kwai?
00:54:20Yeah, he's just gone into the hut. Bad news.
00:54:21But they... What?
00:54:23Bad news. What?
00:54:24I haven't been able to get any diesel.
00:54:28However, I had come up with a clever alternative.
00:54:35No, you halfwit.
00:54:39There's no diesel in this village, but there is diesel in the next village.
00:54:44So we use the horses to ride to the next village, get the diesel, bring it back to the trucks.
00:54:50We're not in a west.
00:54:52I can't ride a horse.
00:54:53Well, you what?
00:54:54Well, I might have been pony trekking when I was eight, but, you know...
00:54:57Well, it'll still be in there, won't it?
00:54:58Well, I wouldn't use that one there, if he's going to ride anywhere.
00:55:01Holy moly!
00:55:04Why do they have five legs in Burma?
00:55:07Maybe it's so it can milk itself.
00:55:09Should we spend...
00:55:10Should we spend all day looking at a horse's willy as soon as we can?
00:55:14Oh, it's gone wrong.
00:55:15Being the most experienced horseman, I took the frisky five-legged stallion.
00:55:22They're on.
00:55:24Oh, Christ almighty.
00:55:26Hello, horse.
00:55:28I shall call you Tesco.
00:55:33Ready, steady, go.
00:55:37Well, I've bought a stalled horse.
00:55:38It's going backwards.
00:55:40I've bought a reversing horse.
00:55:41I think if we get moving, yours might follow more readily.
00:55:43Go on, then.
00:55:44James, can you turn right and go up there?
00:55:45Come on.
00:55:46Turn around.
00:55:47How do you make it turn around?
00:55:48Does anybody know how to start a pony's horse?
00:55:49I've got it.
00:55:50Go on, follow your mate.
00:55:51Yes, very good.
00:55:53The controls are reversed.
00:55:54And kick off, I'm off.
00:55:55Oh, yeah.
00:55:59Yeah.
00:56:02Soon, James was getting a taste of what the ride was like in my sports lorry.
00:56:06My nadges are getting a pummeling.
00:56:09Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow.
00:56:14Look at this anal action going on here.
00:56:17No, it's because my horse is going up your one's bottom.
00:56:20Oh, Christ, we've had an accident.
00:56:22You go ahead.
00:56:26I'm terrified.
00:56:28My nads are killing me.
00:56:31Oh, stop that.
00:56:32Please don't fight.
00:56:33Walk on.
00:56:34I'll stop calling you Tesco if you promise not to fight.
00:56:36Go.
00:56:38Hello.
00:56:39Walk.
00:56:40There you go.
00:56:41Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow.
00:56:43Oh, God.
00:56:44Oh, God above.
00:56:45Not much further now, James.
00:56:46Jesus.
00:56:48I mean, Buddha.
00:56:50A few hundred yards further on, Richard Stallion decided to get amorous with James' mare.
00:56:56Oh!
00:56:57****
00:56:58Is he gone?
00:56:59What happened?
00:57:00It reared and mounted that.
00:57:01Don't get kicked.
00:57:02Things quickly went to pot.
00:57:04This is the doctor going to attend to Richard, but the van is stuck.
00:57:19I've just dismounted my reversing horse and actually genuinely hurt my testes.
00:57:29Oh!
00:57:31I can see why they should be glue, these things.
00:57:36Richard was diagnosed with a suspected broken wrist and went on a four-hour journey to the nearest hospital.
00:57:43So I walked my horse to the next village to get fuel, and then we found a spot to camp for the night.
00:58:03Here, while I enjoyed the view, James unveiled his sleeping accommodation.
00:58:08A mountaineering tent he could suspend from his crane.
00:58:13So I'm going to rest it against the front of the cab.
00:58:15So all these bitey ants, they don't get in your tent and eat you.
00:58:20It may have been insect-proof.
00:58:25But soundproof?
00:58:27No.
00:58:28I want to go to bed.
00:58:38But I can't with that racket going on.
00:58:41Listen to it.
00:58:42The next morning, I discovered that Hammond was back.
00:59:01So that's just a sprain?
00:59:03Yeah, not bust. Nothing exciting.
00:59:05So you can check what is it you have to do?
00:59:07Yeah, be fine.
00:59:08Listen to me steering.
00:59:09Yeah, be all right.
00:59:10You just have to...
00:59:11Yeah, still do that.
00:59:13Right.
00:59:14And how was sleeping in your lorry?
00:59:16Erm, not bad.
00:59:17What about yours?
00:59:18I don't know.
00:59:19Where did James sleep in the end?
00:59:21What's he done?
00:59:22Oh, he's got some stupid high-tech mountaineering tent he's hung from his crane.
00:59:27Why is it up there?
00:59:28Well, you know he's snoring?
00:59:33Yeah.
00:59:34Quite loud.
00:59:35So I moved him a bit further away.
00:59:40Jesus!
00:59:42Dark Sun!
00:59:44What?
00:59:45Funny.
00:59:47Very funny.
00:59:48Yes.
00:59:49I don't like heights.
00:59:50I don't like camping.
00:59:51I don't like snoring.
00:59:53Anyway, should we get on?
00:59:55After Pinky and Perky had winched me down, we set off on our seventh day of long-distance lorry driving.
01:00:03It's just staggered that they've put diesel in my truck.
01:00:17I mean, that's a generous gesture.
01:00:20Assuming it is diesel.
01:00:28Oh, no.
01:00:30Hammond, what's happened?
01:00:33I lost my other stack.
01:00:36Well, as you know, we're not the US Marines.
01:00:38We leave a man behind.
01:00:46Yeah, too hot.
01:00:48Er...
01:00:49Right.
01:00:53It's covered in ants.
01:00:54Oh, it's an ant's nest.
01:00:56That's a mistake.
01:00:57Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow.
01:01:00This, then, looked like it was going to be another day of calamities and mishaps.
01:01:06But actually, here, in this part of Burma, we had to get properly serious.
01:01:13Today is a big day for us because we are headed for the sham.
01:01:18Now, Turkey has been to a lot of remote places over the years, but we've never been anywhere quite like this.
01:01:25The sham is to Burma what Scotland is to Britain. It's a part of it, and yet it's separate.
01:01:32We know there's been a civil war in there. We understand there's a ceasefire at the moment.
01:01:39Only a handful of Westerners have ever been there, and certainly no TV show has ever been allowed in.
01:01:46Now then, we are the first ever.
01:01:59All of the people who've been fighting are coming together tonight to welcome us here to the sham state.
01:02:04Yeah!
01:02:07He's got the whisky. Go to Scotch.
01:02:11F***ing second gear failed, and now the engine has a f***ing arse.
01:02:16Hammond, you idiot! You reversed into the sports lorry!
01:02:23Work on the bridge starts at 0500.
01:02:26What?
01:02:38And the second part of the Burma special is next week, same time, eight o'clock.
01:02:43The passion for crashing next tonight here on BBC Two.
01:02:47Wheel spins, side bashing, wrecking, smashing it round the track.
01:02:51Anything goes for fast and fearless Britain's banger races.
01:02:56The Wind!
01:03:01ら Withersi.
01:03:03The Wind!
01:03:04The Wind!
01:03:05Think HawnΠ²
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