Amazing Race Amateur Footage - Ep. 7 Roadblock Canned

This warrants its own post. A commenter in the previous post noted the following, after we were all wondering what happened to the Road Block this week:

"Nate said... If you go to the AR10 official website there is a picture of the BQ's holding a Road Block clue on a beach in Maritius.... I was reading... and it mentioned the family that was on vacation earlier this year and posted video of the teams racing to the clue box on the beach - in Maritius!! I believe CBS removed the footage of the Road Block because of this. Interesting... "

Turns out we had this story covered MONTHS ago, Laura remembered Gus had this post in July, featuring the video (available here).

Geesh, I should pay more attention to these things eh? Thanks everyone!

Episode 7 - Kuwait to... Mauritius Live Blog!

Live blogging the 8pm PT broadcast

Kentucky starts off the race talking about how they've made friends for life. The 3 teams in their alliance are "no longer the BACK pack" they're now "the SIX pack". They're all on their way to Mauritius or "mari tee us" as the Beauty Queens would say. "What country is that in? England? That's weird that's far!" Oh God.

Everyone heads to the airport to book tickets.

The BQ's are in line with Bama right behind them. The boy models arrive later but just to spite Bama, the BQ's try to book the Models' flight while they're at the front of the line. Bama was not about to let this slide, to which the Models made immature noises and told them to stop their "idiot banter" and "say something smart".

(First Commercial Break)

Back to the "idiot banter" between the Models and Bama. Everyone seems to be booking 8am flights from Kuwait, to London to Mauritius. Once on the Island (off the East coast of Africa) they need to drive themselves to a bay where a schooner will be waiting for them, and where they will find their first clue of the leg.

Everyone is now in their car, driving to find the bay, making assumptions about what they'll find when they get there. Kentucky just doesn't want to swim, Mary is scared of fish. Apparently where they grew up, you tossed your kids into a lake to 'make them swim'. Seems like it scarred them both for life.

All those who guessed they would have to swim out to their schooner in the water were right on the mark. Donning life jackets BQ, Bama and Rob & Kimberly make it to the boat first then swim back to shore with their clue. Kentucky struggle meanwhile the models haven't even arrived at the Bay.

Bama and Kentucky take a breather on the boat before heading back to shore. Back on land, BQ's open their clue. They need to hop in the car and drive to a post office to get their next clue. Off they go.

Chos are on land waiting for the rest of their SIX pack. The models think the Cho's are keeping the two weaker teams around so that they can all bump out the other teams and leave the weaker teams as their competition in the end.

BQ, "we need to lose these people they are useless to us", referring to Rob and Kimberly who are all in their cars headed for the next clue. Models are lost again. Rob gets frustrated with the manual transmission in the car "it won't get in gear!" he spazzes, gets out, and walks away from Kimberly and the vehicle.

(2nd Commercial Break)

Rob to Kimberly "You don't calm me down, you rev me up!" Meanwhile, BQ's just crunched their car into a bus. "Do I need to sign something?"

BQ's arrive in their crunched up car and pick up the DETOUR. Salt or Sea.

Salt: Search among enormous piles of salt for a salt shaker that contains the clue.

Sea: Walk to a dock, chose a captain, sail to an island, use a treasure map to locate a mast and sail.

BQ's chose SEA. Rob and Kimberly have received a new car since theirs broke down (I think it was a problem with the driver, personally). Kimberly "this isn't a Vaycay, this is a competition." Meanwhile, the SIX pack catch up. They all agree to go do SALT. Kentucky find a shaker but it contains pepper.

Rob and Kimberly finally reach the post office while Kimberly calls back to Rob "JERK!" they finally agree to do SALT. Rob falls on his way back to the car and throws his clue at Kimberly. It looks like he left it behind.

All the teams except for BQ's are elbow and knee deep in salt. Bama "it's in my swimsuit". Rob and Kimberly take off - "there's no way all those teams will find that". The Models AND Rob & Kimberly bail the SALT detour as well just as the BQ's get frustrated doing the SEA detour and contemplate going back and doing SALT.

Cho's and Bama follow suit and leave the SALT detour, now Kentucky are the only ones left at SALT - the SIX pack is now broken up.

(Commercial Break)

BQ's find their target on the SEA detour "I feel like Indiana Jones right now!" Rob & Kimberly are on their way to the pit stop as well as the Models. Kentucky gave up on the SALT detour and joined the rest of the pack at SEA.

Phil lets BQ's know they've won some scooters, with enough room to "take a date out", to which one of them replies "can we take you?" Phil "uhhhhh".

The SIX pack are all in a race to the pitstop in their cars - which leads to a foot race.

2nd team, Models
3rd team, Rob & Kimberly
4th team, Cho Brothers
5th team, Bama
6th team, Kentucky

By some magical mystical power - this is a non-elimnation round. Once again they are marked for elimination and must come in FIRST in the next leg.

(All images property of CBS.com - Amazing Race)

Former Racers Blog - Episode 6

This week on the Former Racers' Blog, the previous competitors & winners discuss the possibility of an Amazing Race All Star series as well as BJ & Tyler getting a little press online (nominated as "Most Memorable Reality Performer" for a Golden Really Realitini award). Chip and Kim have their recaps up again on www.ChipAndKim.tv and a couple people chime in on the Cho Brothers....

Chip M.

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I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE . . . THE CHO BROTHERS!!! Their act of selflessness and loyalty towards David & Mary was unparralled in any season of TAR . . . or any other Reality or Sporting Event that I have ever seen in my life.

David & Mary are the salt of the earth . . . so friendly, lovable and competive. It was great to see them come in first (Oh, by the way, did I mention how wonderful are . . . THE CHO'S?!?!?!)



BJ

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Ok, I guess maybe the Cho brothers know what they're doing. I had my doubts about these pranksters with their fake cell phones and water guns, but I like that they let their friends go for the Fast. But now they have to be careful, because there's going to be a mad rush for the next Forward. Did it bother anyone else that Peter just kept driving around going, "Tell me where to go, Sarah" instead of ever asking a local for directions? I'm just surprised he wasn't snacking on something while he was driving.

From India to Kuwait (E6)

For another first on the Amazing Race, Phil wasn't at the mat to send the racers on their way. Instead they received their money along with a visual clue from Phil on a cameraphone. They then raced off to travel agents around the city to arrange tickets for flights to Kuwait City. Most teams took the 11pm to Mumbai (formerly Bombay) except Tyler & James who took an 8pm flight but everyone was on the connecting flight to Kuwait City. Once they arrived, the teams selected their marked cars and drove to the Kuwait Towers (the picture on the phone), where they had to take a number. Once again, all teams bunched up because the location wasn't open until 11am.

With their new clues, the teams found out that they had a choice between going for the first of two Fast Forwards or doing the Roadblock. The RoadBlock was for one member of the team to scale a ladder that hugged the outside curve of the tower to the top to retrieve a satchel of puzzle pieces. They then had to get back down to a chest that contained the rest of the puzzle pieces. Once they'd put the puzzle together, it would give them the street name where their next clue was located. Of course, the address was in Arabic so, teams had to get a local to translate it. Most of them got the nearby security guard station to translate and give them directions but Bama got a couple of local men to help them. Not used to thinking for themselves, the Blondes tried to horn in on their information. The thing that gets me is that if they'd been the ones to finish first, they would have told the guy not to help the Bamas but since it was the other way around, they got all bent out of shape & called them "pigs".

But, back to the Fast Forward. The Cho brothers considered going for it because they were both afraid of heights. But before they could ask Kentucky whether they were going for it or not, they saw that the Blondes were going for it. In an effort to head them off & give Kentuckty time to make up their minds, they made the Blondes believe that they were going for it. Mind games work well on those that don't have one of their own and the Blondes decided to stay and do the RoadBlock. Because of coming in last in the last leg, Kentucky (the coalminer & his wife) had to come in first this leg or incur a 30 minute penalty. Wisely, they decided to go for the Fast Forward. The task was to drive 18 miles to an oil field, don protective gear and brave the heat of an oil fire to retrieve & read their clue. They did it & got to the mat (and Phil) first!

For the teams that did the RoadBlock, they had to locate and get to Al-Gharabally Street where they had to locate a bead shop for their next clue. Getting to the street was a small challenge but finding the right shop proved difficult for all the teams. Their next clue was the Detour. Teams had to choose between Manual and Automatic. In Manual, teams had to locate a feed lot where they had to fill ten 110 lbs bags with feed and then carry & stack them on pallets. The bags had to be filled to a specific line marked on the bags and stapled closed. The Blondes either didn't read their entire clue or just disregarded this part of it because they had to top up all of their bags because they weren't full enough. "They're being really picky." They just barely beat the Cho brothers but were behind Rob & Kim. In Automatic, teams had to locate the Camel Race Club where they had to mount a robotic jockey on the back of a camel and with a voice control, have their camel cross a finish line. Bama & the Boys powered through this task. Both tasks were hard for the teams to find, some more so than others. Peter & Sarah even got so turned around that they found the location for the Fast Forward before they found the Manual Detour.

In the end, the teams finally ended up at the Al-Sadiq Water Towers, the Pit Stop for this leg in the following order: Kentucky, Blondes, Rob & Kim, Bama, Chos, the Boys and lastly, Peter & Sarah. This wasn't a non-elimination leg so, Peter & Sarah said their good-byes and also stated that they were finishing the race as friends. Oh well, one down, two more to go. As long as neither Rob & Kim or the Blondes win the race, I'll be happy. They should go home in the next two elimination legs but that would be in my perfect AR10 world.

I don't know about everyone else but I really find the Blondes to be very hypocritical. They think everyone is jealous of them (can you see me rolling my eyes?). They seem to think that being Miss California & Miss New York should get them special treatment. They also think that they are doing so much better than they actually are. At least they aren't as ignorant as Kim. Don't get me wrong, they're incredibly ignorant but she should go blonde and join their team. My favourite quote from this episode came from her again. I especially loved the sound effect when Rob had to correct her pronounciation "mosque". She kept calling it a "mask". Are we sure she isn't a beauty queen, too?

Former Racers Blog - Episode 5

Former Racers Blog

More thoughts and comments from past racers, participants and winners of the Amazing Race. They dissect and comment on this week's episode. I actually agree with Tyler (one of the Hippies and last year's winner). Where are the product placements in this round? Not that I'm really complaining, it just seems a little weird, no?

My main concern with this season is the lack of colorful product placement. In our season we were showered with Travelocity Roaming Gnomes, Mercedes Benz rides, and even a “Da Vinci Code” theatrical trailer that played in the middle of an episode. I’m actually typing this blog from the T-Mobile Sidekick 3 that BJ and I both won in the Japan leg of our race. “Jump for joy!”

When Phil awarded 1st place team Rob and Kimberly with their “jet skies,” I wanted to have the show cut to a clip of two bronzed models racing across Lake Tahoe, a thin rainbow colored oil sheen trailing, followed by a shameless promotion of who was fronting the bills. I don’t know about you, but I want to know where my million bucks comes from.

From Vietnam to India (E5)

WARNING: Episode spoilers for PT (Vancouver/Los Angeles Time) viewers.

You know that when Phil makes a point of mentioning restrictions at the beginning of the episode that they're going to come into play for at least one of the teams. This week, he pointed out that teams could not book flights at the ticket counters at the airport. They needed to go through a travel agent to make their arrangements.

Teams left last week's pit stop and headed by taxi for the train station. Of course since they were departing at night, all teams bunched up at the train station, which didn't open until 5am. While on the train, the Cho brothers, 'Bama & Kentucky all decided to continue to working together and shared information on where the closest travel agents were located. The Cho brothers decided to use their fake cell phone to throw Peter off their trail. Unfortunately, it didn't work in their favour. Peter panicked and borrowed the cell phone of another passenger and made reservations with a travel agent while still on the train. He decided to share the information with the Barbies with the agreement that they would help them later on in the race. In the end, the teams booked flights as follows:

Tyler/James & Rob/Kim - 1:35pm through Delhi arriving at 9:20am.
Cho brothers - 7:20pm through Hong Kong & Delhi arriving at 9:20am.
Peter/Sarah, Bama, Kentucky & the Barbies - 8pm through Bangkok arriving at noon.

There were some switching of flights, as usual. Bama & Kentucky got their tickets changed for the 7:20pm flight out with a reservation for the flight from Delhi. Unfortunately for them, there were no seats available when they arrived and they were put on the waiting list. Good news for Bama, bad news for Kentucky - only one team got seats with the others. In Delhi, Peter, Sarah & the Barbies got an earlier flight that got them to their destination at 7:50am.

From the airport teams took taxis to the bus station and boarded buses for Chennai. Once there, teams faced a Detour. Their choices were Wild Things or Wild Rice. In Wild Things, teams traveled 9 miles to a crocodile farm where they had to secure & transport a crocodile to a new pit. In Wild Rice, teams only had to travel 200 yards but they had to fill an intricate pattern with coloured rice. Most teams choose Wild Things. The Cho brothers & Bama checked out the Wild Rice but changed to Wild Things while Kentucky & Tyler/James stuck with it. Next teams were directed back to Chennai, where they ran into a Roadblock. In this week's Roadblock, one team member had to complete a driving test to receive both their next clue & an Indian driver's license. There obviously weren't any major incidents with the driving tests since they didn't show a lot of scenes for it.

From there teams, raced to the Chettinad Palace, the Pit Stop for this leg of the race. Peter & Sarah arrived first and won home gym systems for their effort. Tyler & James, who have been consistently at the front of the pack, were second to last. But it was Kentucky (the coalminer & his wife) that arrived last. Luckily for them it wasn't an elimination leg and they were spared. But in a new twist, as promised by Phil at the beginning of the race, they weren't stripped of their money or possessions in true AR style. They were instead marked for elmination, which means that they have to come in first on the next leg or they will incur a half hour penalty when they reach the mat.

I'm not sure what race the Barbies think they've been running but the "we're not that agressive" comment when they left the pit stop at the beginning of the race was too funny not to be mentioned. If anything, they've been the most aggressive. They're ruthless and annoying. Not a good combination for TV. I especially like that they made the alliance with Peter & Sarah and then promptly turned their backs on them the next chance they got (Delhi airport). Not that Peter & Sarah aren't annoying but at least they don't pretend not to be ruthless. Though, Peter gave me a good chuckle tonight when he pronounced Chennai as "Shania".

But the "best" comment tonight was from Kim, while they were on the bus from the station to Chennai:

I want to go to Europe. I wanna be with the rich folks.

It reminded me of the POW's finacee (S7) that said he was weak because he "quit the army". Rob is rude and Kim is ignorant (another combination not good on TV). Others might find it amusing but I find it disgusting to watch. Especially since they're visitors in another country and are insulting both it and its inhabitants.

This episode finally lived up to previous seasons! Happy to see that not all the travel arrangements will bunch the teams up. It's what makes the show exciting. The challenges were pretty awesome, too. A lot more potential for "fun"! Can't wait for next week.

The Amazing Hunt

The Amazing Hunt is an urban explorer race that takes place in British Columbia based on the show the Amazing Race.

Since 2004 it's been a great way to compete, run around town like crazy visiting unique landmarks and getting to know your city's culture. It features many of the same challenges as the show such as Detours, Road Blocks and Yields.

The race operates all over the Lower Mainland (North Shore, Surrey, Richmond, Burnaby, Vancouver) and even over on the Island in Victoria. You can sign up for the race in your area and test your skills. The challenges in various cities run from March to October.

The creator writes:

The theme for the 2007 races is to "expect the unexpected," like our host always said at the starting line.
So, if you have any ideas for the tasks or locations for teams to visit, please let me know by e-mail or reply this blog. If your idea gets accepted, you will get an official The Amazing Hunt t-shirt! [Amazing Hunt Blog]

Footage from past Amazing Hunt races can be viewed on You Tube and visit the site for more details on participating or being a volunteer.

Former Racers Blog - Episode 4

Another installment of the Former Racers' Blog, this week we get Chip's opinion:

Now for last night's episode . . . MAN OH MAN!!! That was the most GRUELING, STRESSFUL, FIERCE and ENERVATING LEG EVER!!! With TAR making the 4th leg so difficult, I can not imagine how the later legs can get progressively harder without killing somebody. In our season (5) we did not perform feats such as these until the final 2 or 3 legs.

Killer Fatigue (KF) was running rampant in this leg. Every team was at each other's throat. Most notable was Peter at Sarah's (since it seemed so one sided). But, David and Mary, Rob and Kimberly and all of the rest were at odds with each other as well. I don’t see how Rob and Kimberly can possibly finish TAR without killing each other.

The people I have to take my hat off to are Sarah and Tom. Sarah, for her heroics while on the ascender . . . and for overcoming Peter's extreme negativity. Tom for performing one of the most heroic acts I think I have ever seen on TAR . . . he hopped out and drug the boat and Terry to safety . . . WOW . . . What a champion.

I am on the Godwin and Irwin bandwagon now . . . though I still like David & Mary, Karlyn & Lyn, Tyler & James and Kandice & Dustin (ok, that was a slick way of saying . . . YOU KNOW WHAT!!!).

Chip and Kim also have their own website, with episode review videos: www.ChipAndKim.tv

We've Been Listed

Found something out this morning that I found fun & interesting. I tried to share it with my co-contributors but one didn't answer her phone and the other was asleep (can you see me rolling my eyes?). So, I figured I'd tell you instead.

As most of you have seen, we have sitemeter on our site. It's a handy tool for tracking how many visitors we've had on any given day or over a period of time. It also tells us how visitors are coming to our site. A lot of the referrals are through searches on Google or Yahoo and a few are from our Amazing Race 9 site. I check it occasionally out of curiousity and this morning I found a referral I'd never seen before. Apparently, we were recently included in the Yahoo Directory listings on October 4th. Right now, we're listed second from the top of the list when sorted by popularity but that's only because we're "new" to the listing. I'll be interested to see where we fall after our newness has worn off.


See you all next Sunday!

Episode 4 Around Vietnam

So, once again, the race was delayed because of football if you were watching the Eastern channels. Unfortunately for those with TiVo, that means that you probably missed the last half of the episode (unless you watch Cold Case, which comes on right after). My Turkey Night took a little longer than it normally would so I missed both the ET & PT times but I'm watching during the commercials of Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters, sorry.

It started out with the usual highlights from last week's episode along with a couple of updates on racers' health. Apparently, Rob had to be treated for heat exhaustion before he could continue on with the race. Is this going to be an ongoing thing with him? Hmm, maybe somebody should tell him to try a cooler head and see if that helps. Don't remember they'd done this before but was impressed that they started out with local currency rather than US dollars. Their clue directed them to "listen" for their clue at a specific street corner. The instructions were to take a taxi across the Red River to one location and then take a bus to another location and then look for Hydrofoil Harbour for their next clue.

The Beauty Queens were listening to the flowers in a planter on the street. "I hear a cricket, but I don't know what that means." The Cho brothers, who had left first, were in the thick of the pack because their cab driver got lost on the way to the corner. Some of the teams had the wisdom to get their cab driver to listen to the instructions, as well as writing them down. If I liked Rob & Kim, I'd say I was sorry to see that they had to change cabs twice but they were both so rude to the cab drivers that I think they got what they deserved. "I'm done talking with foreigners." (Rude Rob)

Once again, the bus station equalized everyone since it didn't open until 5am and everybody ended up on the same bus. The next clue was a RoadBlock. They had to take a motorboat across the bay & climb a 90ft sheer cliff before they got their next clue. There were 3 ropes and it was first come, first serve. Unfortunately for Sarah/Peter, Rob/Kimberly & Tyler/James, three boats passed them so they had to wait for their chance to try and complete it.

If I hear one more pep talk from Peter or one more "babe" or "baby" from Rob or Kimberly, I'm going to have to push them off a cliff. But, the beauty queens have to go. They're rude to both the locals and the other racers. I can't believe they jumped the line again! Oh well, she got a cut on her leg. Karma's a bitch!

Next they had to go to a cave located in another cove to get their Detour clue. Their choices were Over or Under. For both tasks, they had to take a junk to a specific anchor location and then row a traditional boat to their task. The wind on the water and the rowing of the boats proved too much for most of the teams. In Over, they had to pick up two bushels of bananas and then deliver them to two addresses in a floating village nearby. In Under, they had to pull up 30 oyster baskets and delivery them to a man at the pearl company.

Peter blew up at Sarah. Rob & Kimberly blew up at each other. One beauty queen blew up at the other for losing/shredding the clue. They were even dumb enough to not read their clue properly and tried to row to the next pit stop. They keep trying to break the blonde, beauty queen stereotypes but, so far, all they've done is support them.

But was geniunely touched by the support and mutual admiration that Tom & Terry showed each other. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to keep them in the race. They were eliminated and the couple-that-shouldn't-be-a-couple were first (Rude Rob & Catty Kim).

I noticed something tonight. All the teams that I would have normally rooted for (from past season experience) - the younger more fit teams - are the most annoying and the most deserving to go home. The only teams I want to see win at this point are Tyler & James or the Cho brothers. They respect each other (no yelling, no bitching, no tearing each other down). There's a minimal amount of whining from them, they just get the job done and they don't annoy me. But, I still don't have a team..... :(

Sorry for the lateness. I'll do better next week.

Next on the Amazing Race

As per CTV's website:

While racing through Vietnam, teams must navigate their way through rough waters and around rocky islands.

Frustrated with their cab drivers, the leading team switches taxis three times en route to the next location. Once there, teams must decipher a cryptic clue in the dead of the night. At the Roadblock, teams must ascend and rappel a vertical 90-foot cliff at Hon Yen Ngua rock island in order to receive their next clue. One racer injures their leg during the race, causing them to stop for medical attention.

Should be interesting to see this one. Looks alittle more physical Roadblock is coming so should be for some excitement for our lovely co-writers of this blog.

Thoughts on Episode 3 - BJ

Return of the Racers is a part of the Official Amazing Race site where past racers/winners/participants can comment on this season. Here's what BJ (one of the hippies and winners of last season) had to say about this leg of the race [cbs.com] - he even shares some thoughts that I expressed in my recap post :p

10/2/06 5:48 am
If this episode taught us one thing, it's that it not who gets on the bus first - it's who gets on the RIGHT bus.

But there were other lessons to be learned. David & Mary taught us to keep your fanny pack on your fanny. Erwin & Godwin taught us that beauty sells more flowers than muscles. Tom & Terry taught us that although it might feel right to wrap your arms around a Vietnamese boy on a moped, Phil will get jealous. Lyn & Karlyn taught us, once again, that they sure do love to compare the Race to childbirth. Rob & Kimberly taught us nothing. And Dustin & Kandice taught us that they will not be upset if neither of them wins Miss Congeniality. They're going for the million dollar crown.

Speaking of which, Terry...Tom, whatever your name is, don't give Kandice the "I really thought we were friends" speech. We all heard you say on the first episode that you didn't come on the Race to make friends, so don't expect other racers to put your friendship before the last seats on a flight. I consider Lake my friend, but if we were racing a 100-yard dash tomorrow for 100 grand, I wouldn't be surprised if he threw an elbow my way. (Am I right, Yolanda?) Besides, those girls are pageant queens. You KNOW they are capable of anything.

In closing, I think the Roadblock should have been called, "Who's ready to peddle petals on pedals?"

'Not Gonna Win the Pageant of Kindness' - Episode 3

Once again Laura refuses to write the recap so here's my two cents - I watched it on the East coast channel so for those of you in Vancouver (and on Pacific Time) this may be a spoiler since there's still about 20 mins until the episode airs.

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Teams start this leg with no money and have to make their way from Mongolia to Hanoi, Vietnam. Once out of the gates they need to drive themselves to a hotel and book flights. The booking office opened at 9am so everyone pretty much had time to catch up. At 9 it was 'supposed' to be an organized line getting to the agents although the Beauty Queens budged ahead of T&T and no one was really impressed.

All teams were on the same flight. On the ground in Hanoi, they had to travel by taxi to an old POW camp nicknamed "Hanoi Hilton". The money tally at this point was about $40 for Rob & Kimberly, $21 for the Beauty Queens and Duke & Lauren had measly $11 left over from the last leg.

On the flight over Duke befriended a local and thought it might be a good move to bring her along in the cab with them, to make sure they got to the right place - BIG mistake. She held them up at the airport while she went to get her baggage - THEN demanded to get dropped off FIRST by the cab, taking them about 30 minutes off course and spending fare they didn't have. Duke & Lauren arrived at their destination and offered the $11 to the cab driver who was gracious enough to accept it -- they got SO LUCKY on that one.

The gates opened at 8am so teams were again grouped up and all raced through the buildings to find their clue. It was located at the site of Sen. John McCane's prison garb - he spent several years there during the Vietnam War. The Brothers took a moment of silence in respect/honor of all those (past and present) who were involved in combat.

Teams then made their way into town and for a Road Block, had to sell 80,000 worth of flowers (which is equal to about 5 US dollars) then receive their next clue. Teams had to take a bus to another town, Vac where they received their Detours.

Once in Vac the Brothers asked some locals for directions, who then offered them a ride on their scooters. Phil's voice then comes on (once the Brothers refuse) and says that teams are prohibited from riding on motorbikes in Vietnam due to safety reasons. Unfortunately T&T did not read this part of their last clue/message and when offered a ride by some locals, they took it - this would come back to haunt them.

At the Detour: Fuel or Fowl. For Fuel, teams had to take wet muddy coal and mold 30 bricks using a press. In Fowl, they had to assemble/weave an elaborate birdcage. All teams chose to do Fuel but Duke & Lauren got lost on the way to the Detour and ended up at the Fowl task. It had taken them so long to get to that point so they stayed and completed that task.

Over at Fuel, the Brothers were WAY ahead but once 30 bricks were done, they were told they were all too small and had to begin again. The Coalminer and his wife (naturally) chose this task as well. "This ain't real coal - ours is hard, this is like mud!"

The Brothers still ended up being the first team to complete the Detour and made their way to the mat. The second team to arrive was T&T but Phil informed them of their penalty for taking the scooter rides. They then had to stand aside for 30 minutes and watch all the other teams pass through the mat. With one team left to check in, their time was up and they were able to check in. The last team to arrive was Duke & Lauren.

I don't think their ultimate downfall was the lady with the cab - although that was a pretty dumb move on Duke's part. I think it was when they were searching for the Detour and got lost - then decided to do the Fowl task.

'Bama (the single mothers from Alabama) did okay in this leg of the race and expressed fondness for the Kentucky couple (Coalminer and his wife) saying it's all a part of being from the South.

Sarah's realizing that she ain't too crazy for Peter, except for the fact that the Vietnamese woman seemed to love his 'good looks and blond hair' and Rob & Kimberly are as moody as ever - although it seems like next week they really have it out (Mojo style).

All in all there seem to be some good vibes going around the teams with only the Beauty Queens really going for the throat - doesn't look like either of them will be winning Miss Congeniatlity any time soon.