Episode 2 Recap - Nara, Japan to Sokcho, South Korea

This week we met up with our teams relaxing at the first checkpoint and taking in a Japanese tea ceremony. With only hours between them and a long way left to go, they seemed friendly, but Eugenie and Isabel made the unwelcome early discovery that they were the only team not to work in the first leg. Cards were kept close to their chests, but viewers could see that they had spent ~30% of their budget to the other teams ~20% a fact I think was slowly dawning on the ladies.

They did have the advantage of leaving first, but having joined Alfie and Owen in losing the map and only having a 2 minute head start, they didn't seem to be in the strongest position setting out. Without the map and worried about the budget they headed towards Hiroshima to a higher paying job, but Isabel seemed more worried about transport plans then job punctuality costing them some much needed income as they could only work for an hour.

Alfie and Owen headed to Kobe, travelling less by the seat of their pants this week and more by the pull of their stomach. Owen was very keen to try Kobe beef despite the higher cost, a meal which might have been more contentious for Alfie had the restaurant not taken pity on their budget travel and let the boys dine for free. In fact their team did very well at getting assistance this week, getting internet reservations for the bus to Hakata made by a friendly local. In some respects the language issues are less of a problem these days than the lack of a smart phone for payments and tickets - although that might change as they move further away from the more high-tech Japan and Korea.

Betty and James's journey felt like one more of personal enlightenment at times this week with the siblings taking a route south via the island of Shikoku under Betty's direction. They worked for a while cutting leaves in gorgeous surroundings, but also as James put it 'in the middle of nowhere'. Their team still seems to be getting on well so far, but it was pretty clear that while Betty enjoyed the tranquil nature of Shikoku, James was far more at home in the beer festival they later stumbled upon in Seoul.

Stephen and Viv went the other way heading north to Kansai, intending to pay for accommodation by helping a roof thatcher. Poor weather however limited their ability to help, but Stephen who has come across a bit rude in his attempts to queue jump, showed a more nobel forceful side insisting they should work cleaning a shrine in return for the nights stay. In an interview he listed a wide range of jobs he's held over the years, suggesting that he and Viv might have more hidden skills which has really paid out well for teams in the past.

Brydie and Sharon also aimed to work, finding a fishing job in Okayama which might have done ok for their budget but left them stuck for a day without a train. Maybe Isabel's "be late for the job, not the transport" is a better strategy? Although where Eugenie and Isabel are putting everything into time at the expense of money, Brydie and Sharon seem too much the other extreme - while budgets were not revealed at the end of this episode, they seem likely to have one of the healthy budgets left; but also have so little focus on speed they've yet to reach the second checkpoint.

The checkpoint itself saw a much bigger gap then last week - Isabel and Eugenie and Alfie and Owen crossed on the same ferry to Hakata, while the other three teams met up on a ferry a day later yet the gaps had widened again as they crossed South Korea. Isabel and Eugenie took first place again despite working in a fish market, but the boys were 4 hours behind them now, having walked the final stretch to avoid spending money on a taxi.

Betty and James and Stephen and Viv had a similar story, the siblings taking a shorter time across South Korea while Stephen and Viv did a spot of dishwashing, both teams also arriving in the same positions they had at the first checkpoint.

However while all the team positions remain the same, the gaps have opened up considerably - you can see on the chart here how much more spread out they are, and this is with an approximation of 24 hours for Stephen and Viv (who say they are a 'day and a bit behind first place') and a guess at 30+ for Brydie and Sharon:

A budget chart might also show some wide gaps with Isabel and Eugenie having already used 40%+ of their budget, but the show remained tight-lipped about the spending this week so there's not enough to compare. And the next checkpoint will see the slowest team eliminated, so with some big times to recover, some teams might really start to feel the pinch

So do you think Eugenie and Isabel can make it three weeks in first place? Might one of the day+ behind teams stage a fantastic comeback? Make your prediction here!