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?