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Race Across the World: The Detour - Season 1 Episode 8 - The Final Leg with Comedian Harriet Kemsley and Emon and Jamiul from Series 2
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00:00Hello Backpackers, I'm Tyler West and welcome to Race Across the World The Detour, the
00:05show that's got us staying positive.
00:07We have no chance of ever getting out of here, I've become a Mongolian citizen.
00:11Living my personal foodie dream.
00:13I only let him eat crisp sandwiches for six weeks.
00:16Getting arty.
00:17I've seen some yellow snow on the way.
00:20And getting our girl boss on.
00:22Do I look like a strong, powerful woman with my...
00:25Your hammer.
00:26Hammer.
00:27I can't believe we made it to the last Detour Checkpoint.
00:30We're going to dissect every moment from that incredible final, as well as hear some travel
00:34tales, fails and tips from our wonderful guests.
00:37And it doesn't end there, once you're finished with us, just search The Detour on BBC Sounds
00:41to hear our bonus show, it's an extra special exclusive this week, as we'll be joined by
00:45our winners for their first ever post-race interview.
00:48All right, you're not going to find that anywhere else.
00:50So ditch your backpack, select your preferred juggerlant, pull yourself a bowl of Yak Vodka
00:55and join us one last time for Race Across the World, The Detour.
01:03Now, I can't wait to meet our guests.
01:05So who has signed the book for this final episode?
01:08It's none other than comedian Harriet Kemsley.
01:12And winners of Race Across the World Series 2, it's uncle and nephew, Eamon and Jamil.
01:18Come on.
01:19And for one last time, I think it's time to say hello to our resident travel expert.
01:24I've got pants older than him, but I don't have any pants that are quicker than him.
01:27It's Alfie Watts, everyone!
01:28Is that true?
01:29It is true, mate.
01:30I've got old pants.
01:32Old pants?
01:32Old, holy pants.
01:34Like, ones that my fiancée Molly, she won't even put them in the wash.
01:37What a great episode.
01:38It was so good.
01:39One of the best episodes we've ever seen.
01:41And as always, towards the end of this episode, I'll walk you through my route for this final leg.
01:45It will be speedy because we're at the end, but there will be plenty of opportunities
01:48for some worthwhile detours.
01:49Yeah, exactly.
01:50Now, before I go any further, if you're still in Har Horan and you haven't yet made it to Hat
01:55Girl, then stop.
01:56Go and watch the final leg of Race Across the World Series 6 on iPlayer.
01:59And while you're there, don't forget to check out the reunion episode,
02:02where all of the racers meet up and unpack their journeys together.
02:05Now, what an ending that was.
02:08I think it's only appropriate to experience that winning moment one more time
02:11and let you in on how we all reacted watching it here at The Detour.
02:17I feel sick.
02:18I feel sick.
02:19Bro, open the book then.
02:22Oh, come on.
02:24Oh, my days.
02:25You've successfully reached the finish line.
02:27Please sign in, no relief.
02:28Oh, my...
02:29I'm fine if you won the race.
02:30And 20,000.
02:34No, I don't want to turn it over.
02:36I don't want to do it, lad.
02:38This is actually torture.
02:41You ready?
02:44Oh, bro, it's just stupid.
02:46Oh, my gosh.
02:47One.
02:48Three, two, one.
02:52Oh, he done it!
02:54He done it!
02:56Yes!
02:57Yes!
02:57Sorry for that.
02:57You have one.
02:58Yes!
03:00You did it!
03:01Oh, God!
03:02Oh, my gosh.
03:02You guys broke it.
03:04Go, boys!
03:07I can't put it into words, bro.
03:11Sick.
03:12Oh, I'm buzzing for them.
03:14We've done it!
03:15They deserve it so much.
03:16That was a good finish, wasn't it?
03:17I'm trying from the start.
03:18I've proper enjoyed it.
03:19Final book and seeing it empty.
03:22And it actually happened and it's hard to get my head around it, you know?
03:28Did you see Joe's inner Liverpudlian crow come out there?
03:32And he was like, ah!
03:33Can I just ask, why was Joe's first instinct to run back towards Italy?
03:37It was like the other one.
03:38It was so running away.
03:39He's just seen it and just bolted.
03:41Oh, listen.
03:42It was such a good finale.
03:43Right, quick reactions from everyone.
03:44How did you feel watching that, Harriet?
03:46It was just wonderful.
03:48Like, I think they really deserved it.
03:50Like, they've gone through such an emotional rollercoaster, I think, between them that
03:54I think it was really deserved.
03:56Even Jamil, does that bring back all the emotions?
03:58Yeah, yeah, yeah.
03:58Too right, too right.
03:59100%.
03:59It was like, were you watching it?
04:01It was like almost a really living hour.
04:03Did you guys body slam each other?
04:05Yeah.
04:05Not like that.
04:06Not quite like that.
04:07Quick hunt shake and that was a vibe.
04:08That was a good one.
04:09Kept it calm.
04:10What about you, Alf?
04:10I see me and Owen so much in these boys and it's just, it's such a moment.
04:14They should be so proud of themselves because I know exactly what Joe's brain did.
04:19When you open that book and you just can't see any names, you don't know what to do with
04:23yourself.
04:23You just move and the first thing he's done is just bolted 20 yards away.
04:26It's amazing.
04:28Must be nice, that winning feeling.
04:29It must be.
04:30It must be so nice being so close.
04:34I got to watch the winning feeling from 20 metres away and move on.
04:42They ditched the backpacks basically at the Checkpoint Hotel at the start of the episode.
04:45They ditched it so early.
04:46They just rolled down a mountain.
04:49Alfie, we've got to say a huge congratulations as well to Andrew and Molly.
04:52From a winner's perspective, right, I want to know what does this tell us about controlling
04:57the budget up until those final few legs and final few moments of the race?
05:02One of the things that we have got to consider is obviously the currency has played a massive
05:07impact, particularly in the last two legs, because you've noticed that the contestants
05:10have been talking a lot about U.S. dollars, because it is kind of widely accepted in a
05:14lot of countries around the world.
05:15The Mongolian currency is the Tugrik, which is much more widely accepted in the rural areas.
05:22You might get away with using U.S. dollars in Ulaanbaatar, the capital, but not in the rural parts.
05:27Now, Jamil, you took the opposite route.
05:29You completely ran out of budget before you got to the end of the race, right?
05:33How did that feel?
05:33Well, I felt good about it. I didn't want to take any money on with me.
05:38For me, it was production money I've ever used at all.
05:40Yeah, no, that's not my money, right?
05:42Exactly, from the BBC.
05:45I'm not giving that back, yeah.
05:47I mean, we didn't have an option, to be honest, let's be real,
05:49we just had to spend whatever we had, and we got lucky.
05:52In the end, we didn't have anything.
05:54I think we had three dollars or something left.
05:55We had to give our MP3 away.
05:56Yeah, you came home with an iPod less, didn't you?
05:58Yeah, exactly.
05:59You gave your iPod away.
06:01Our last taxi, we didn't have enough money to pay the guys.
06:05Yeah, you trained it for the journey.
06:06We just gave what I had in my backpack, really, wasn't it?
06:08Yeah, pretty much.
06:08I bet you went, what's on it?
06:11Oh, let me judge the players before I accept it.
06:14Harriet, we love Kate and Harrison on the show.
06:16They've got this wonderful bond.
06:17They've got this amazing connection that they've built.
06:18They're a great team.
06:19What did you make of their third place finish?
06:22I wanted them to win.
06:23I have to say, I did want them to win.
06:24I think that they were just so sweet together.
06:27They're so sweet.
06:28And just his love for a calculator.
06:31I really respect that.
06:33You know what I mean?
06:34It's not something I've ever felt.
06:35I can't relate to it in any way.
06:40And that's why I like it.
06:41They're both so different.
06:43And I think it was so lovely seeing them interact.
06:45I think they brought out the best in each other.
06:46Like she helped him kind of relax a little bit.
06:50Yeah, it's the moment at the end as well,
06:51when he was like, right, flicked over the page.
06:53Right, that's done.
06:55Just lay down in the snow.
06:57Just lay there and let's just look at the sky for a bit.
06:59I think that's great.
07:00Emo and Jamil.
07:01So how about Mark and Margo?
07:02We're very thankful that they made it to the end.
07:05Yeah, it might have been like 25 hours behind.
07:07But either way, it comes to show that, you know,
07:10they've made it all the way through this journey
07:11and they've accomplished what they came to do.
07:13Well, for them, I honestly didn't think they'd make it.
07:16No, they had a very low budget.
07:17And their journey was just incredible, wasn't it?
07:19Yeah.
07:20Did it all for Julia, you know?
07:21Yeah.
07:22And that was like really special that, you know,
07:23it's that moment at the end.
07:24We was crying, weren't we?
07:25Oh my God.
07:26It was so moving.
07:28It was so beautiful.
07:28But imagine if they hadn't have made it,
07:30I think she would have rethought the wine and dumplings.
07:33It has to have been played.
07:34Her Margo day must have been playing on her mind all the time.
07:37Yeah, that's something I'd do and then I'd be like,
07:39let's not show that in the edit.
07:41Let's not show that, yeah.
07:43Right, I think it's time that we unpack the route
07:45from tonight's episode.
07:46The final legs of our racers travel from Ha-Horan to Hat Girl.
07:52To reach the finish line, teams face a crucial choice.
07:57Head east via the capital, Ulaanbaatar,
08:00following paved roads on a well-connected route of buses,
08:04taxis and the country's only passenger train line.
08:08But a detour of over 500 kilometres.
08:12Or strike out north, heading off-road
08:15across the remote Hangai Mountains.
08:18Half the distance, but twice the risk,
08:21where public transport disappears
08:23and they must depend on locals to make progress.
08:28Jeez. Alfie, give us the knowledge.
08:31Yeah, I've said it a few times this series,
08:33but it's one of the hardest lakes I've ever seen in race across the world.
08:36Hat Girl is so, so remote.
08:38It sits on the southern tip of the Havskal Lake,
08:40which is 85 miles in length, 860 feet deep.
08:43I mean, it holds 70% of the country's fresh water just in that.
08:47Harriet, if you want to go yourself?
08:49Yes, thank you. I'm looking for a nice holiday.
08:53Yes, thank you.
08:53In a big lake.
08:54Yes, thank you. I'd love that.
08:56So what you can do is you can fly to a town called Murun,
09:00and then you can actually just drive down.
09:02The other thing to obviously bear in mind is the detours along the way.
09:06I mean, the volcano that Mark and Margot went to see,
09:08you can actually now walk up some steps and walk around the rim of it,
09:11which is amazing.
09:12So many incredible detours in Mongolia and the scenery is just staggering.
09:16I think you need very good people skills to navigate that part of the world.
09:19I mean, Joe and Kush in particular, they had that in abundance.
09:23Do you think that's one of the main reasons why they were then the eventual winners,
09:27because of their people skills?
09:28That's how so much happened is just relating to it.
09:31I don't even understand how they're doing it with such a language barrier.
09:34That's what I was thinking.
09:34I think that's what was so fascinating.
09:35And the insight into people's homes and how welcoming everyone was,
09:41was so beautiful to watch.
09:43I think the language barrier is one thing.
09:44You can try and brush up on knowledge before you go away,
09:46but you don't know where you're going to be dropped in the world.
09:48So say, for example, when I did, I obviously went away and it was Spanish speaking.
09:52So I knew a little bit of Spanish, like how much is this, like quanta cuesta.
09:55I said it to the guy at the bus station and he said,
09:58sorry, no hablo ingles.
10:00I'm speaking Spanish, but you don't understand,
10:03because I'm that bad at Spanish.
10:05Like that is actually a thing, like understanding the lingo is another.
10:09You might learn one word, but then it will just backfire on you.
10:12Did you have any language skills before you headed away?
10:14You boys?
10:14He's like, no, no, no.
10:16Zero Spanish at all.
10:17It's just hand signals.
10:18It's just energy.
10:19Yeah, that's it.
10:20Which way?
10:20Like you just got to move your whole body when you're doing it.
10:22I mean, there was trouble with you when you thought that they were calling you criminal
10:26every time they asked me a suitcase.
10:27What was that word?
10:28Caminal.
10:29Caminal, yeah.
10:29What do you mean that?
10:30I don't know.
10:31Suitcase.
10:31Oh, suitcase.
10:32Do you want to know what suitcases is?
10:33And he kept saying, I'm not a criminal.
10:34I'm just trying to get a taxi.
10:37The language barrier was a bit of an issue for us.
10:39How do you think you would have coped during these last few legs?
10:42Alfie was just saying this is some of the toughest racing that we've seen in Race Across
10:45the World history.
10:47Reliable travel is set at a very premium price on this journey.
10:51But you were pretty good at negotiating when it came to caps, right?
10:55You used anything.
10:56Yeah, I think negotiation is key.
10:59And I think similar to ours, you had to rely on strangers and the hospitality that everyone
11:07had that gave you in abundance.
11:09And I think that's what I came across in this series is the hospitality.
11:13Some of the homestays were just incredible.
11:15John Cush, they smashed it with like getting into grips with everything, speaking to the locals
11:19as well.
11:21They were so good at just creating relationships, you know what I mean?
11:24I think that's what sort of put them ahead.
11:26If you look at budgeting and sort of getting all those taxis, some of them get it for 500,
11:31some of them are 350.
11:32If you know the locals, they'll help you.
11:34And I think that's the way to go about it.
11:36That's what we had to do.
11:37We got the help from a lot of the locals and that's the reason why we want to be fair.
11:41The fluctuation in taxi prices is actually a really good point because there's some of
11:44the, you know, when Harrison and Katie hitchhiked out of town for the first time, it was like
11:48£4.
11:49And then Mark and Margot thought they'd got to steal like three hours later and theirs
11:52was £8.
11:52So the difference is, difference is mad.
11:55Yeah.
11:56Now, Harriet, there was a moment with Andrew and Molly.
11:59So they've been, I mean, they've been such a brilliant pair throughout.
12:02They've been seeing all these amazing sort of views and landscapes, but it allowed them
12:06to come to a sort of understanding about their relationship.
12:09And there was that beautiful moment with them on the farm where Andrew was like,
12:12I finally got to let Molly go.
12:13Like, what'd you make of that?
12:14That was, that was, that was really sweet from everything like father-daughter duo.
12:18I think it was so beautiful.
12:19And I think they've been through so much as a family.
12:22I think they've done so well to travel as like a father and daughter,
12:25like me and my dad wouldn't have got out of Dover.
12:28I think it's really impressive.
12:30It's a lot to live with your parent in that close proximity and make all these decisions together.
12:36And I think it's a, it's going to be a really wonderful thing in their relationship
12:39to have that kind of switch where he sees her as an adult now.
12:41Yeah. It's also nice to see a racer really excited about going to do more travel once they finish.
12:48Like Andrew's buzzing together. He's like, I've got a bucket list to tick off.
12:51He said he was anxious before, so it's really sweet that it's given him the confidence.
12:55Yeah, exactly. I mean, as a parent yourself, talk us through traveling with kids.
13:00Like, do you have even more respect for parents now that you've done it on your own with your girl?
13:06Yeah, for sure. I mean, I think doing this with a toddler would be a different experience.
13:11It would be harder than that.
13:12Race across the world with toddlers would be, yeah, a pretty mad spin-off.
13:17Yeah. Some yak milk?
13:21It would be a difficult spin-off, but yeah, I mean, I think it's such a beautiful experience.
13:26I think in, in life, there's not that many opportunities that you get to spend so closely,
13:30like really achieving something with, with somebody that you love so much.
13:35So yeah, I mean, it's a wonderful thing to watch.
13:37So, Katie and Harrison's bond got even stronger throughout the race.
13:41And traveling through like tough and unfamiliar terrain and places and things like that,
13:47what sort of impact do you reckon that has on your relationship?
13:49Oh, so many, man.
13:52When you're traveling with a family, it puts you to the test, right?
13:55Yeah, yeah, that's true.
13:55But because you've got family with you, you know that you've,
13:57somebody's there that's going to have you back the whole time, no matter what, look after you.
14:01I think that's a great bond to that relationship as well.
14:04We were sort of lucky in that, obviously.
14:08We didn't know each of the two well, really, on the race.
14:11But we got that bond back.
14:13I think that's what the race does.
14:15You're like in so close proximity, so much is going on all the time.
14:19You're having to like go through everything together, trying to sort of solve so many
14:24problems together.
14:24You have to get close.
14:25You have to like deal with each other, regardless of getting annoyed and like,
14:28his smell might be a bit bad, you know?
14:31I think it's that connection that you get.
14:33Like, I didn't really spend much time with Jan before the race.
14:36And joining the race, when you're living in each other's pockets,
14:39day in, day out, when you've got a 36-hour bus ride,
14:43and nobody else in the bus talks English.
14:45So you have to speak to him, literally.
14:47And there's only so much he can listen to.
14:50I used to go up and down to the bus, try to see.
14:54You don't even have an iPod anymore.
14:57Anyone that'll listen to my story.
15:00They didn't understand me.
15:01Speaking of unfamiliar terrain, Harriet, what's this about you falling into a hole
15:04whilst travelling?
15:05What's this about?
15:06I like to snowboard, and I went with my family, and it wasn't even on one of the
15:14pieces.
15:14I just, I went to go put my snowboard down, and the, I think I'd walked over some ice
15:21that had gone over like a, and I fell down.
15:24I would say like 10 foot, like it was above me, and I kind of like disappeared underground.
15:29And then luckily this man saw me, and he came and he got me down the hole.
15:33And then he had to like pull me out of it, like it was mad.
15:36And then I went, and it was like life changing.
15:39But then my whole family were just like, where's she?
15:41And then they kind of saw me, and they were like, oh, come on.
15:43And I was like, you don't understand.
15:45I fell down the hole.
15:46You don't know what's happened.
15:46I'm a different person.
15:47They were like, what are you talking about?
15:49We're just going for lunch.
15:50And I was like, I've been down a hole.
15:52And then they didn't really like get the magnitude of it until the next day we were walking past.
15:57And I was like, that's the hole I fell down.
15:58And they were like, Jesus Christ.
16:00So Joe and Kush actually, they work at a bar in Ulamatar.
16:03That's a bar.
16:05To help with their budget.
16:06I sounded like a rapper.
16:08I thought I was in fire in a booth there for a second.
16:10It's like you've been there.
16:10Yeah, exactly.
16:11So Joe and Kush actually work at this bar in Ulamatar.
16:14And obviously they have a really sweet moment, like earning cash.
16:17They're reconnecting with home in this moment.
16:20But it's not just all about earning cash on this race.
16:23Is it, Iman Jamil?
16:24I think we got lucky, to be honest.
16:25It was all about the experiences, trying to see different countries, cultures.
16:29That's what it's all about, man.
16:30And locals, you want to always just like experience as much as you can.
16:34But the race, man, the race gets hold of you.
16:37And it just takes everything away, doesn't it, sometimes?
16:39I think the other thing with people, it must have been really quite challenging for Joe and Kush
16:43for a lot throughout this race, because they're obviously two kind of 19-year-old lads
16:47going out into the world for the first time.
16:49I think Ulaanbaatar would have been actually quite a nice break for them.
16:52Because, I mean, it's one of the youngest cities in the world.
16:54Sick.
16:5440% of its population is between the ages of 15 and 34.
16:59Yeah.
16:59Which is crazy.
17:00It's like the new lads holidays.
17:01So, we're going to Ulaanbaatar.
17:04But compared to London and Manchester, London and Manchester are only 30%.
17:08Really?
17:08Yeah, it's significantly more.
17:10It's a really, really young city.
17:11Yeah.
17:12Which is just awesome.
17:13So I bet that they felt right at home.
17:15Harriet, that moment as well, when Andrew and Molly found out they were in the wrong jargon.
17:21Well, I think we were all pretty stressed.
17:22Yeah.
17:23Can we admit that?
17:23Yeah.
17:23It was all pretty stressed.
17:24It was so stressful.
17:25It was so stressful.
17:26And I, yeah, I just, I would have, I would have just given up.
17:30Would you have stayed there or would you have tried to carry on moving?
17:33I don't think they really could have stayed there.
17:35They were kind of in the middle of nowhere.
17:36In the wrong jargon.
17:37In the wrong jargon.
17:38Yeah, they had to keep it moving.
17:39But the, that feeling is just the worst feeling when you've made a mistake and you just feel
17:44like, oh yeah.
17:45Do you know what would have been worse though?
17:46Is that, is the fact that they were having the phone conversation that they couldn't understand.
17:49So they'd have known that something was up.
17:51Yeah.
17:52But they wouldn't have known what.
17:53Yeah.
17:53So there's that like looming, slowly pending doom of like, oh, how bad is this?
17:58One thing that, that really proves as well, because so many people, like fans of the show
18:02always ask, oh, surely the production give you some help and things like that.
18:06That's what I was thinking, yes.
18:06But literally they went to the wrong jargon.
18:08Does it look like it?
18:09Is their production sitting there going, oh God, guys.
18:11I can't say anything, but they're just, oh God, oh.
18:15Right.
18:15Now it's time for our final game of the series.
18:18We've got travel hot takes.
18:20The rules are simple.
18:21I'm going to tell you an incredibly spicy travel hot take.
18:24And you guys just have to tell me whether you agree or disagree with whatever it is.
18:29Okay.
18:29Make sense?
18:30Brace yourselves.
18:31First one.
18:32The UK is not worth visiting if you're traveling far to get to it.
18:35Very dull.
18:36People are not the nicest.
18:38And it's always raining.
18:40Thoughts?
18:41It's hard to disagree.
18:42It is, though, is that?
18:43I know, yeah.
18:44There's something, like, sometimes.
18:46I don't think it's dull.
18:47I think the other two are probably correct.
18:49It is always raining, to be fair.
18:51And it's not nice of people.
18:52It depends on where you go.
18:53It was quite funny, that moment that Harrison was in Turkey.
18:57And then he said to the guy, yeah, I'm from the UK.
19:00And he just showed a picture of Tesco's.
19:02Tesco Express.
19:03And he was like, yeah, this is, oh, my God, UK, yeah, this is it.
19:06Amazing.
19:07What are you thinking, boys?
19:08That UK is not worth visiting.
19:08I haven't seen Bradford in all of them.
19:10Yeah.
19:11It's that north-south divide.
19:12The north-south divide.
19:14Yeah, fine.
19:14Do you know what I mean?
19:14Go north, you'll love it.
19:15Yeah, the vibes is a thing in the moment.
19:17Okay, fine, fine, fine.
19:19Right, moving on to the next one.
19:19Second take.
19:21Listing travel as your hobby in a dating app is dumb and a cliche.
19:25Oh, wow, okay, right, well, I'll leave then.
19:29Literally all I've got.
19:30That is literally, I mean.
19:32What do you, what do you, what do you, what do you, if you, what do you miss all I've
19:35got?
19:36Surely, surely you've got more than that, surely.
19:38It's just not a great deal.
19:39I mean, I, to kind of compensate, I always put my height as two inches extra on my hinge, if
19:43that helps.
19:44Yeah, yeah.
19:45How tall are you?
19:46Five.
19:46Who are you asking?
19:48Five, are you five, well, what?
19:49On hinge, I'm 5'11", in real life, I'm five foot nine and a half.
19:53That, no, that's too far, that's too many inches.
19:56Harry, I mean, you host a dating podcast, look at this boy here.
19:59Yeah, I can help.
20:00I want to start like a charity for men's dating app profiles.
20:04I will be the guinea pig, because that is so required.
20:08What do you think if a man is like travel as his hobby in his dating profile?
20:13I think that is, because I think the problem is like a lot of men don't want to do much.
20:17You know what I mean?
20:18I think it's actually good to know that they want to get up and do something, you know.
20:22So, yeah, I think, I don't think that's a problem.
20:25Because all of my prompts are travel related.
20:27You look so panicked right now.
20:28Yeah, it's so independent of yourself.
20:29You need to calm down a little bit, it's okay.
20:31It's okay.
20:32I'm on the ropes.
20:33Yeah, I think you probably have other parts of your personality that you could bring out
20:36more, maybe.
20:37I'm so glad it's the final episode.
20:39It's fine, it's fine.
20:39He's got a lot to think about when we leave here, yeah.
20:42We had it.
20:42Right, on to the next word.
20:44If you recline in economy without asking first, you're a bleep.
20:49What do you think?
20:50Oh, definitely ask first.
20:51I think you notify.
20:53I think it's customary to notify, but I'm not asking permission.
20:56But you ask the person behind.
20:59Well, you tell them.
21:00You let them know that you're going to recline, right?
21:01No.
21:02I'd never know.
21:03I think the only time you notify is if there's food out.
21:06Yeah, yeah.
21:07If there's food out, you notify.
21:08If not, just that's ridiculous.
21:10Someone very upset wrote that.
21:12Yeah.
21:12Had a bad experience.
21:14Would you just recline or would you turn around and go, excuse me,
21:17I'm going to put my chair back?
21:18I think I'd do that.
21:19Really?
21:19Yeah, yeah.
21:19Would you?
21:20I'd be like, yeah, that's what I'm doing.
21:21Just so they know.
21:22If they say no, I'm like, no, I'm telling you I'm going to do it.
21:25But then what's the point of that?
21:27You know what I mean?
21:28You might have to do it.
21:29You might have to do it anyway, was there?
21:31You might have to do it anyway.
21:32You might have banged the head.
21:33You never know.
21:33It's happened to me, man.
21:35Right, on to the next thing.
21:36You don't have to learn a single word of the local language.
21:40Come on.
21:41Yeah, it's nice to learn.
21:42But often they're like, please don't.
21:44Yeah.
21:45They're like, thank you for trying.
21:46But I suppose when you think that you smashed it,
21:49and then they just reply to you in English.
21:51It's the locals' job to decide that, isn't it?
21:53Not the person who has to actually make the effort.
21:57You can't go to that Mongolian village and say, do you talk English?
21:59No, that's ridiculous.
22:01It's just not going to happen.
22:03Right, thank you guys for taking part in Hot Takes.
22:06Now, this series has perhaps been one of the most challenging routes
22:09in race across the world history.
22:11And not just challenging for our racers, but also for our crew.
22:17All right, weather again remains minus 25 degrees.
22:21It's going to be cool.
22:23Stay covered properly.
22:25Yeah.
22:25Good luck.
22:27And stay warm.
22:28Do well.
22:31While we're in here in Mongolia, it's cold during the day
22:34and even colder at night, so we need quick access
22:36to extra layers after sunset.
22:39From Italy to Mongolia, we've gone from plus 30 down to minus 30,
22:44which in itself brings new problems.
22:47Where Italy was sunburn, here it's hypothermia.
22:51To battle the sub-zero conditions, everyone on the ground had to be equipped
22:56with extreme cold weather gear.
22:59This is where we slept last night, but the stove was off.
23:02It's exceptionally cold.
23:04Lots of layers on.
23:04This is quite extreme here.
23:06They look freezing.
23:07The team actually have to go everywhere, obviously, where you go.
23:10This must have been such a challenge to film, though.
23:12Because just remind yourself, like, how remote and sparsely populated is Mongolia?
23:17Yeah, I think the easiest way is to compare it to the UK.
23:21So the UK is sort of like 95,000 square miles.
23:25Right.
23:26Whereas Mongolia is 600,000 square miles.
23:30It's spread out, isn't it?
23:31And Mongolia's population is 3.5 million.
23:33Wow.
23:34Ours is 70 million.
23:35I mean, it's not exactly like you can then just go ask someone for another battery
23:38if your mic runs out.
23:39No, exactly.
23:40No, and this is the thing.
23:42And also, it's things like, one thing that I found really interesting when watching the show
23:45was how do, like, the remote towns get food.
23:47Mm-hmm.
23:48These guys basically have their own provinces, and they farm, and that's it.
23:54You live off the land.
23:55No Amazon Prime.
23:56No.
23:57It's not happening.
23:58So it's so off-grid.
24:01So to think that they've managed to get all of the kind of camera equipment across that region is wild.
24:06Yeah.
24:07Eamon, Jamil, like, there's such an incredible team that go into making this show so spectacular.
24:12How many people was it that were following you around?
24:14For us, it was six people, including our security, yeah.
24:20Mm-hmm.
24:20Mm-hmm.
24:20But, you know, everywhere we went, they went.
24:23Everything that we did, they did.
24:24Yeah.
24:25I remember when we climbed Rainbow Mountain, and they were struggling with all the equipment.
24:29Of course.
24:29And we were struggling.
24:30We had nothing.
24:31We just had two backpacks, and they got all the equipment up and recorded everything.
24:36So I think what the production go through just gets overlooked.
24:40Alfie, how would you describe an embed team?
24:43The team that basically follows us around, right?
24:45In racing terms, they kind of become your second family.
24:48People have got to remember that it's so wild, because you go on this journey, and you obviously
24:53go with someone, and then you also go with five people that you hadn't met before.
24:58Yeah.
24:58And they are the people that are going to basically document your story.
25:01They are the people that are going to be there.
25:03They're the people that, when things go wrong, they're the people that you're going to be going to.
25:07So you do develop this amazing, amazing sort of connection.
25:11But yeah, it really does become your second family.
25:13I mean, Harriet, after knowing all of that, are you tempted to apply?
25:16Yeah.
25:17I mean, looking at everyone's faces, having completed it, I think it is a very exciting challenge.
25:25Who would you do it with, though?
25:26I think that's what's so tricky.
25:28It's hard to choose, dude.
25:28I think it would probably be...
25:30Your toddler.
25:30Yeah, my toddler, yeah.
25:31I mean, yeah.
25:33I think it would be amazing when she's older, or I think a friend.
25:36I think probably a friend.
25:37I think it's so impressive how you did it with someone that you are intimate with.
25:44I don't know.
25:45Oh, we did not feel intimate the whole six weeks.
25:48The stress of it would be a lot.
25:49We were so separate.
25:50The fact that you're still together is so impressive.
25:53Yeah.
25:54Because we smell each other in situations, and we're never going to date anybody else.
25:59Is there any part of the world you'd like to go to?
26:01Yeah, I guess I was thinking about this.
26:03Like, I think it would be really cool to do, like, Thailand and things where you're having
26:07to take boats and something like that, I think, would be really amazing.
26:11Mm-hmm.
26:11Yeah.
26:12Something on the water.
26:13Didn't you travel with fellow comedian Lou Sanders?
26:16Yeah, see, me and Lou have been away a bit.
26:17Yeah, we both like snowboarding, so we go snowboarding a bit, and we went to Lake Tahoe,
26:22which I've never...
26:23I've always wanted to go, and we went, and...
26:26But me and Lou, we're very similar in some ways, but we're very different in others.
26:30Like, Lou thinks, like, that animals are, like, kind of magical.
26:34Like, I think she lives in, like, she thinks she's snowboarding or something.
26:37She's one of them.
26:38It's not enough.
26:39Yeah, so we stayed in Lake Tahoe, and all the signs are like,
26:43don't feed the bears, which seems like an obvious thing that you don't need to sign for.
26:46But Lou didn't even respect that, and she knew that I was like,
26:49she was like, oh, maybe we should feed them.
26:51And I was like, remember the signs that say don't feed them?
26:53Anyway, I went to sleep.
26:54I woke up the next morning, she was like, you're going to be really mad with me.
26:57And I was like, why would I be mad?
26:59We've all been asleep.
26:59And it turned up she'd been up all night trying to get the...
27:03This is mad.
27:04It's mad to say it out loud.
27:05Leaving food outside the window to try and coax the bears.
27:10She doesn't know what a bear is.
27:12It's like she thinks the bear's going to come up,
27:14and they're going to be like, oh, it's so nice to see you, Lou.
27:19Absolutely mad.
27:21And so I was like, yeah, do you feel a bit cross about that, actually?
27:24Yeah, I do feel a bit cross, because that seems like a mad thing to do.
27:27Yeah.
27:27I wouldn't choose Lou for this, I wouldn't, I wouldn't, absolutely not.
27:32Eam and Jamil, did you get close with the team that was around you?
27:35Yeah, yeah, very close.
27:36We had a lot of dire situations out there, so we had to get close to them.
27:40We did.
27:41Even now, like, I still stay in touch with our crew.
27:44You know, like I said, the experiences, they shared a lot of the experiences with us.
27:49And it's them bus journeys, I keep going on about them, but they sat them 36-hour bus journeys with
27:54us.
27:54Exactly.
27:55Do you know what I mean?
27:55So I had somebody else to talk to.
27:57Do you know what I mean?
27:58I don't know if they wanted to talk to you, though, about the end of this.
28:01I think they were contractually obligated.
28:04They have to, yeah, it's their job, yeah.
28:06They're getting paid footage for me, so I might as well.
28:08Now, sometimes on this show, we hear some travel tales, fails and hacks from you,
28:12and sometimes we hear from former racers.
28:14Today, we have Shamima from Series 1.
28:17Hi, the detail.
28:18I'm Shamima from Series 1 of Race Across the World.
28:21On the race, Natalie and I travel for hours and hours on buses with no toilet facilities.
28:26On one 12-hour journey with no proper stops, when we finally got to the border, I was desperate for
28:32the bathroom.
28:34The only toilets were in a building that had no access to the public, so I told them I was
28:40pregnant to get access, and it worked.
28:42What are some of the craziest things you've done while travelling when you've been in a desperate moment?
28:47I've pulled that car before.
28:48Have you?
28:49It was when I was really hungover and I was sick in a bush.
28:52You were like, I'm pregnant. There's even worse. We can smell the vodka coming up.
29:00What about you boys?
29:01We had a moment on Race Across the World, actually, on the bus.
29:04The bus situation.
29:04Basically, we got onto this bus and there's a sign that said in Spanish, which I don't know,
29:09says, do not use. And I needed to go, so we went and then they made an announcement saying that
29:16somebody's blocked the toilet. So they had to stop the bus and me and him were sat at the front,
29:21so everyone walked past us, looked at us and sorted. Do you know what I mean?
29:24So they made us get off at last so everyone knew it was us.
29:27A massive thank you to everyone who sent us videos to this series and to all of you lovely
29:33ex-racers as well who have got in touch. Now, Alfie, you got the blazer on. Yeah,
29:37it's looking good. It's looking badged up, but we're about to get schooled for one last time.
29:42Ha-Horin to Hat Girl. Your time starts now.
29:46So, you know me, Ty. It's leg eight. It's time to win. I'll do whatever it takes to go the
29:50shortest
29:51route possible. Therefore, I'm going to take my chances and go north. Although travelling via
29:55Ulaanbaatar might ensure more reliable transport, as we saw in the case of Joe and Kush, this isn't
29:59guaranteed and you'd be having to travel a lot further. As a result of taking this northern route,
30:04I can't give you any specifics on the travel because you're going to have to find your own way
30:08through a network of private taxis and generous local citizens. As a reminder though, always agree on a
30:14price before you get settled in that car because these drives are a long way and you don't want
30:18to get there and then have to negotiate. Your first stop in your journey north should be set to Legg,
30:22which is a vibrant town built on a main road with a bustling daily market. Whilst you're there,
30:26make sure to sample some of the local food such as goulash or suivan, a noodle dish with fried
30:31vegetables and meat. It's also the home of a 17th century monastery called the Zeyn Khuri,
30:45which at its peak would see an average of 4,000 monks pass through its doors. It remains as a
30:49museum
30:50and place of worship to this day. 160 kilometres north of Setzeleg, you'll find Turkin Sargon National
30:55Park, a stunning place home to the Horgo volcano. 8,000 years ago, the volcano's cinder cone erupted
31:01with the lava flooding the valley below and forming a dam that created the beautiful freshwater lake
31:06where Mark and Margo had their heart to heart. You really aren't going to get many better vistas
31:10than this. Venturing even further north, you'll come to the picturesque village of Sheen Idair.
31:16Although remote, the scenery is breathtaking. Ask around the village for the location of ancient rock
31:20carvings which were made tens of thousands of years ago. Then once you've taken in Mongolia's rural beauty,
31:25it's time to get back on the dirt track and make your way to Hatgal. If possible, look out for
31:30the
31:30furgons which are Russian-made 4x4s and are rugged enough to cope with these harsh landscape terrains.
31:35It's a four and a half hour drive towards Hatgal, but just think about signing that book on the banks
31:39of the Huskval Lake and then helping yourself to a warm cup of yak milk vodka. Yummy. And you'll
31:44find yourself there in no time at all. Alfie Watts, everybody. Come on. Nice one. How are we getting home,
31:52though? That is a really good question. Fantastic question. Imagine if you did all of that,
31:55you couldn't have a go. I actually don't know where you go. I assume you go to Murren airport
32:01and fly home from there, but who knows? Fine, fine. Well, once you're there, it doesn't really matter.
32:05Once you're there, just enjoy yourself. Just stay. In the words of Harrison,
32:07you're a Mongolian citizen now. Yeah, legend. Legend. Right, thank you so much to Harriya,
32:12Ewan and Jamil for joining us on this episode of The Detour. And a huge thank you to our
32:17resident travel expert, Alfie. Well done, team. Well done. Alfie, where are you off to next?
32:23I'm off on a mystery trip on Saturday. I don't know where I'm going. They tell me in the air.
32:27Ooh, nice. The airline tell me in the sky. You ain't got to carry on doing races.
32:31You can't. Just keep surprising yourself. Harriya, what about you?
32:35I'm going to go to Greece in the summer. Nice. You boys travelling away?
32:40We're actually going to be going to Saudi together at some point this year.
32:43Yeah, starting in October. Nice little pilgrimage, you know. You guys should join us.
32:47Where are you going? That's Croydon. That's it.
32:51If you're already missing us, then don't worry. There's more. We've got a very,
32:54very special bonus episode coming right up that you'll only find on BBC Sounds. Just scan the QR code
33:00or search for Race Across The World The Detour over on the app. Now, we're going to be joined
33:04by our very own Race Across The World Series 6 champions. Joe and Kush are going to be here.
33:09And we'll be reflecting on that incredible final episode and unpacking everything that has happened
33:14from their race. And that's that. Eight countries, seven checkpoints, 12,000 kilometres travelled,
33:20too many cats to count, and about 20 spontaneous parties kicked off by Margot.
33:24Right, it's been an absolute pleasure having you join me for the detour. Goodbye.
33:27Woohoo!
33:28Woooo!
33:55Woooo!
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