TAR: Speed Bump Yoga

Amazing Race
Honestly, They Have Witch Powers or Something!

Phil checks teams out at the former pit stop of the Boboli Gardens in Florence Italy where they find they are heading to Mumbai, India (formerly known as Bombay). They need to fly there, take a rickshaw to a designated newspaper stand, buy The Times of India newspaper and search for an ad that has their next clue.

Sounds like all the teams are going to get caught up on the flight over to India, but the goths still have the speed bump to contend with at some point in the race. When will they get a new task? Will it slow them down so much that they will come in last place?

The order and times that the teams left the pit stop:

  • 10:12 pm – Nick & Don
  • 11:55 pm – Nate & Jen
  • 1:06 am – Ron & Christina
  • 2:11 am – TK & Rachel
  • 3:23 am – Kynt & Vyxsin

Nick and Don go off to find some place with Internet to find the earliest flight to Bombay. Nick talks about how his grandfather doesn’t always know his own limits, so Nick has to look out for him. He finds an Air France flight, and makes reservations over the phone to leave at 6:50am the next morning and arriving in Mumbai at 10:30pm. They check into a hotel to get some sleep.

Nate & Jen decide to go straight to the airport. They said their relationship is improving as long as they remember how embarrassed and disgusting they can get with one another when they are reacting with emotions.

Ron & Christina want to call the airlines while Christina is looking online. Ron talks about Italy being where the Renaissance took place and he feels like he is a undergoing a renaissance for his daughter on the race. They end up booking the same flight as Nick & Don.

TK & Rachel head to the airport and talk about how they have been struggling to stay in second to last place the last few legs. Rachel wants to keep the strategy of staying mellow, but feel like there is something hovering over them lately. Could it be last place? Or stress? Butterflies?

The goths head to the airport too. Vyxsin talks about how it is so rare that her and Kynt aren’t in sync, and she feels she is waking up from a bad dream. They seem energized but are worried about the speed bump.

Airport Fun Times

Jen & Nate show up at the airport to find that the entire airport is closed. Awesome! Ron & Christina show up next, but they already have reservations. They ask if they have seen Nick & Don. Jen says she is pretty sure they just “went straight”? I think that’s what she said, but I have no idea since that doesn’t make any sense. Everyone else shows up and waits for the airport to open, which it finally does at 4:30am. They all rush to the general ticket counter that doesn’t open until 5:30am. Nick & Don are shown getting a cab from their hotel to the airport. Ron & Christina go to the check in counter for Air France to see if they can pick up their tickets.

The goths decide to randomly go to Lufthansa to see if they can get tickets there. They say they aren’t out to screw anyone over, but they know they need to all the extra time they can get because of the upcoming speed bump. This upsets Nate & Jen saying that the goths are buzzing around, talking to different counters, and they don’t trust them. I’m thinking that you would want to know all the options before purchasing tickets, especially if you would be the last person in line behind Nate & Jen and TK & Rachel. Lufthansa only offers a flight that arrives at 1am, so the goths head over to Air France.

Nick & Don arrive and stand right behind Ron & Christina. Ron is jealous that they slept in a hotel while they were outside the airport. Jen is confused about why she can’t get the same flight as others, while she stands in front of a closed ticket window. Ron & Christina and Nick & Don pick up their tickets while Nate & Jen’s ticket office finally opens. They get on the same flight. TK & Rachel try to get the same tickets, but the flight is full. TK & Rachel just leave the line without asking about other flights, but I’m not sure why. The goths go up and ask if there is any other flights that would get them there sooner than 1am. The guy finds a flight going through Amsterdam that would put them there at 10:50pm. They take that one. TK & Rachel head over to Lufthansa desk and get the 1am flight. They look over at the goths and Kynt tries to act all upset so that TK & Rachel don’t run over to see what they are getting. Rachel thinks they look frazzled so they finish up their 1am flight purchase.

In Paris, the flight with Nate & Jen, Ron & Christina and Nick & Don is delayed due to traffic on the tarmac. This causes the goths to arrive in Mumbai first at 10:30am, 20 min. ahead of schedule. Craziness!

Mumbai, India

The goths get in a rickshaw, thrilled by their turn of good fortune. The flight through Paris arrives at 11pm. Ron & Christina get a rickshaw first, followed by Nate & Jen and slowly followed up by Nick & Don. Vyxsin is thrilled to be in India. They arrive at the newsstand first, but it doesn’t open until 6am. So much for that lead on everyone! Nate & Jen are showed being put off by the smells they encounter heading to the newsstand. TK & Rachel are super happy when they arrive to find that everyone is bunched up, and sleeping on a bench near the newsstand.

The next morning, they all grab their newspapers and start to go through them. Someone says that the ad might say something about “amazing” in it. Nick decides to stand near another team (TK & Rachel) in case they find it first, it could give them a clue of where to look. Nate & Jen are arguing about how to look through a newspaper while other teams have it divided up so each one is looking through different parts of it. The goths are the first ones to find it.

Chauhan Alteration Tailors

Newspaper clue: Travel by auto-rickshaw to Chauhan Alteration Tailors located at Saint Joseph Church Road, A.B. Nair Rd, Corner, Juhu. Chauhan is pronounced as Chow-Hahn.

Ron & Christina are the next ones to find it. This disturbs Jen that others are finding it. She jumps up once and I think she has found the clue, but she is scared about the stray dogs roaming the streets and jumping on her. TK & Rachel find the clue next. Nick tries to go where they found in the same section of the paper. Jen starts moving somewhere, which frustrates Nate since it is hard to look when she is walking around with the paper. Nick & Don find the clue and head out. Nate & Jen continue to bicker about sucking and being in last place.

The goths are unsure that their rickshaw driver knows where he is going. He dumps them off in one spot, but they don’t think it is right. They ask him if they are on A.B. Nair road, and then ask him to drive them there. Nick & Don are dropped off in what appears to be the correct general location and see a speed bump waiting for the goths. They pick up their clue, which contains a detour.

Detour: Paste It or Thread ‘Em. In Paste It, they go to an underground area under a bridge and paste up a six panel poster of a Bollywood movie on the wall. Once they are finished they will get their next clue. The panels are large and unwieldy, and if they are out of alignment, they will not get their next clue and might have to take them all down to get them straightened out. In Thread ‘Em, they have to go to a flower market and make a wedding flower garland by threading 108 flowers in an alternating pattern. Once it is approved, they have to deliver it to a bridegroom.

Nick & Don decide to paste it. Don used to be in the printing business so he’s familiar with the huge panels. Ron & Christina also decide to paste posters. Nate & Jen are still trying to find the clue. Hilarious! The goths are still trying to find the tailor shop with their lost rickshaw driver. TK & Rachel arrive for the clue. They decide to thread the garland since Rachel is in the flower business for the past four years. She said it will take some time, but she knows a way to speed it up. The goths finally find the tailor and their speed bump.

Speed Bump: They have to go to Daria Mahal to find a yoga master and complete a bunch of complex yoga poses.

Kynt is very positive about it. He said with all the stress of the race right now, it will be nice to take a break and do some yoga. Nate & Jen finally find the clue in the newspaper and head towards the tailor. Then Jen actually made a funny in the rickshaw! She said it was definitely not their strength, searching through newspapers. Haha! Nate responded with some creepy laugh, but I think that’s how he laughs. Since they are always fighting, it is rare to hear them laugh or be happy so I’m not sure if that’s normal for him or if it was stress-related creepy.

Nick & Don are in a taxi looking for the bridge, but the taxi takes them to the wrong place. Ron & Christina find it by wandering around without taking a taxi. Ron is dismayed there is no instruction manual for the poster. Christina suggests they lay it out first before pasting. TK & Rachel find the flower market and the garland stand. They see the pattern is orange flower, yellow flower and red flower. Ron & Christina have the poster laid out in front of them and are ready to start pasting it. TK tells Rachel to lay out the flowers and he’ll string them. I thought she had the experience with flowers?

Ron and Christina begin pasting. Each poster has a white border around it. Christina thinks they need to cover up the white borders. Ron puts up the first piece and Christina hands him the second. They get it lined up next to the other one, but the rest of the poster isn’t sticking. Ron tells her she is being cheap with the paste. Christina hands him a box to stand on to reach where the half hanging poster piece, but it breaks as soon as he steps on it. He starts yelling about her being cheap with the paste and now they can’t reach the top of the poster to fix it. Christina sounds frustrated when she says, “Sorry…” to his whining about cheaply applying poster paste. I don’t understand why they don’t take that piece down to repaste it instead of trying to do it while it is half hanging, but that’s just me.

The goths reach Daria Mahal and start their yoga exercises. Nate & Jen finally find the tailor for the detour clue. They choose to go with the flowers. Kynt says the yoga poses were getting harder and harder, but it was a highlight to see Vyxsin contorting her body in various ways, and he thinks it was a highlight for the instructor as well.

Nick & Don finally find the bridge area to begin the pasting posters. This makes Ron & Christina nervous. Nick & Don lay out the posters to figure out how they should be put up. TK & Rachel are working on their flower garland, but Rachel is threading the flowers now. Maybe TK already failed at it. He seems to be failing at laying out the flowers in order too since Rachel is pointing out that she needs an orange flower next, not red.

The goths are still going through their yoga poses while Nate & Jen head to the detour. Jen says she knows they are in last place, even with the speed bump. She knows that the goths have some kind of supernatural powers. The goths do finally finish and head back to the tailor for the detour clue.

Christina notices a poster is getting bunched up and calls out to her dad who has wandered from the bridge. He turns to her saying, “I’m trying to get a stool. Are you going to mess me up?” Nice! Christina knows that her dad started to put the poster up too high, but knows that he doesn’t like a lot of input. She said she tried to give him a stool, and he points out that it busted. She responded, “But I tried!” Poor Christina. Nick & Don seem to be having better luck with the poster since they didn’t put it up so tall to begin with, and Nick is pretty tall anyway.

TK & Rachel are convincing each other that they chose the right task, even though they don’t see any other teams around. The goths pick up the detour clue and head to the flower market. They love the interior of their cab, which is all black. Vyxsin says it is cozy, like being in a coffin. The taxi driver looks amused and a little frightened.

Nate & Jen finally show up at the flower market. Jen is looking for a route marker so they are in the right place while Nate is frustrated since he can see TK & Rachel right there doing it. He points this out, but Jen won’t listen until she sees a route marker. Ron is yelling at Christina for messing up the poster, and it does look like a crooked mess. Christina asks him to encourage a little and to quit yelling at her. Go Christina! Nick & Don finish up their poster and get the approval about it being good. This does not make Ron happy to see the other team finish.

Nick & Don’s clue tells them to go to Kabutar Khana, which is a traffic island to find their next clue. There is a caution of a U-Turn ahead, which is the second of only two on the race. It is an opportunity for a team to send another team behind them to finish the other half of the detour that they didn’t complete.

Ron & Christina try to get approval on the poster, but the eye is not lined up. Ron starts messing with the poster telling Christina that she doesn’t know how to do the eye. That was what she was trying to fix when he was yelling at her.

Nate & Jen are telling each other that they need to be stereotypical in the flower task. Jen is doing a poor job of threading the flowers where a few are not through the middle of the flower and barely hanging on the garland. Nate says he doesn’t understand how Jen can’t do the task since she’s a girl. She says she doesn’t understand why he couldn’t row a boat since he’s a guy. I can’t believe they are both so lame. Nate can’t even believe that Jen would think that all guys know how to row boats, and she points out that she doesn’t sew everyday. TK & Rachel finish their flower garland, get approval and look for the bridegroom to get their next clue. They are the second team heading to Kabutar Khana.

The goths show up to the flower market and sit next to Nate & Jen. Jen can’t believe they are already done with their speed bump. The goths were shocked to see any team at the flower market and they don’t look like they got that far either. The goths come up with a plan of Kynt counting the flowers and Vyxsin is going to thread. Nate & Jen both seem to be threading, like they were both looking at the same page of the newspaper. They don’t seem to know how to specialize on one task or divide and conquer. They seem to both do the same thing and take twice as long doing it. Jen starts critiquing Nate’s sewing abilities and he tells her to just concentrate on what she is doing and not worry about him. She complains again about his comment about her not being able to sew. The goths were relaxed and calm after the yoga so they were just charging ahead on their flowers.

Christina is trying to fix the eye on the poster while Ron is asking how she is going to fix it. She pretty much tells him to shut up and asks the poster approval guy if the right side of the poster is okay where the eye isn’t located. He says it is not okay, so they pretty much need to redo half the poster. Ron starts arguing with the guy saying that he said it was okay before and it isn’t now and he’s changing his mind. Oh dear Ron. Don’t hassle the locals when they are the ones in charge of your clue! Christina tells him it is okay and tries to get her dad to focus on the poster and not the guy telling them that their poster pasting skills suck.

Nate & Jen continue to have the same conversation about how she should know how to sew because she is a girl and it is a low blow that he even said it. Jen tells Nate that the tone of his voice is “making her sick.” Then there is eye rolling from Jen. Ah, love. Kynt is thrilled that they are still in the game.

Ron is still arguing that the poster guy changed his mind that it was okay and not okay while Christina has already removed the poster from the wall so they need to redo it anyway. Start making the poster lower! They do move it lower. Christina pastes while Ron critiques. She tells him to stop and he asks what she wants him to do. I think she wants him to leave her alone so she can finish the poster in peace. She does let him do the pasting, probably because she is so “cheap with the paste”. Ron talked about being demoralized with the poster task (really?), but loved that Christina took charge and got it done. Once that happened, they finally got their clue and were the third team to head to Kabutar Khana. Christina thinks they might be a target for a U-Turn. Ron says they will take it one step at a time, which is quite positive for him.

Kabutar Khana

TK & Rachel are the first team to arrive at the U-Turn. They decide not to U-Turn anyone, which isn’t a shocker for them. TK says that if they are in the front of the pack, they do not want to create any enemies in the race that might come back and bite them later. It did with the blondes!

Route Info: Teams travel by taxi to a propane depot called Bharatgas Colaba Gas Service to find their next clue.

Nick & Don find the U-Turn right as Ron & Christina are pulling up to the traffic area. They choose not to U-Turn anyone and head to the next clue. Christina would have U-Turned Nick & Don if they had beat them, but since they didn’t, they decide not to U-Turn anyone. They assume that Nate & Jen are ahead of them by now and know the goths have the speed bump to contend with.

Back at the flower market, Nate is asking why their garland is all tangled up. Both teams look very close to finishing at the same time though so it is still anyone’s game. I’m wondering if whoever finishes first will U-Turn the other team.

Bharatgas Colaba Gas Service

TK & Rachel are stuck in traffic heading to the propane depot. Nick & Don arrive there first. The next clue is a roadblock. The clue asks who has a strong back and navigational skills.

Roadblock: One team member will navigate the streets of Mumbai. They will load up a bike with a cart with six tanks of propane gas. Then deliver three tanks each to two addresses on their order slips. They will take a receipt on each owner’s door as proof of delivery. After they finish, they must turn in their order slips and receipts to get their next clue.

We know Nick does not have good navigational skills after being lost for two hours at a previous roadblock, but I don’t think Don is going to do the roadblock with heavy propane tanks. Nick takes it. Ron & Christina arrive and Ron decides to do it. Why does he always choose the roadblocks that require heavy lifting when he has a hernia? TK & Rachel show up and TK decides to do it. Nick lucks out with one of his deliveries being right at a building he stops to ask directions. Rachel encourages TK by telling him he is young and fast as he loads up the tanks. Christina tells Ron to be careful because of his hernia.

Meanwhile, Nate & Jen finally finish their flower garland while the goths are very close to finishing theirs. Nate & Jen get approval for the garland, but don’t know what to do after that. Jen tells Nate to get out the clue to see what they are supposed to be doing next. Jen reads again that they need to follow the music and give the garland to the bridegroom. I have no idea how this translates into her trying to give flowers to an elephant, but she does before she finally sees the bridegroom and gets the next clue. Jen is dismayed about a U-Turn ahead.

The goths finish up, get approval and race to find the bridegroom while Nate & Jen get into a cab. The goths are very worried about the U-Turn while they jump into a cab. Nate & Jen are hoping that they aren’t U-Turned, but if they aren’t, they are going to U-Turn the goths since they know they are both fighting for last place.

Nick is trying to make his first delivery when the lady who answers the door tells him that he is in the wrong place. Ron gets a local to help him find one of his places. TK finds a guy who points him in the general direction, but doesn’t know the address exactly. Nick finds what he thinks is the right building this time and it is on the fifth floor. Of course, there isn’t an elevator. Nick takes up one tank up and it is the right building. At the same time, TK arrives at the same building, but he’s going to the third floor. He grabs all three tanks at once. Nick passes him going down the stairs and calls TK a macho man with all three while he just grabbed one. Nick gets the other two on the second trip. They both get their first receipt. Ron’s local guide takes him back to the propane service station instead of where he needs to go. Ron thinks the guy just wanted a ride since he jumps off and runs after getting to the propane station.

Nate & Jen are stuck in traffic. Let’s hope that the goths get to the U-Turn first! They both arrive to Kabutar Khana at the same time, but they are on opposite sides. Nate can’t pay the taxi fast enough so the goths get to the U-Turn first, but Nate & Jen don’t see them or the traffic island yet. The goths decide to U-Turn someone. Vyxsin asked if Kynt was sure that he wanted to do it and he said yes. Nate & Jen are trying to run over there, but they can’t see what’s going on yet with the U-Turn. Vyxsin said the only team they know might be behind them is Nate & Jen, so Kynt decides to U-Turn Nick and Don. Huh? Before, they were shocked that any teams were still around when they got back to the detour task, so why would they assume that Nick & Don were behind them if they haven’t even seen them since the newsstand that morning? It makes no sense. They grab their clue and head off to the propane station.

Kynt tries to explain his logic in the cab by saying that Nick & Don are always in almost last place so if they can drag at least one team behind them, they have a shot. He thinks that Nate & Jen already got to Kabutar Khana and left already, so I guess that makes some sense. Too bad he doesn’t know that Nick & Don are currently in second place. Nate & Jen finally arrive at the U-Turn, are confused by what they see, and then move on. In the taxi, Jen is so confused how the goths arrived before they did and Nate says it doesn’t matter since they weren’t U-Turned so that is all that they care about.

TK makes his final drop off and gets his final receipt. Nick is doing the same. They both head back to the propane service while Ron gets to what he thinks is the correct building. The goths are stuck in traffic and apparently not close to their destination yet. They are taking it in stride since there isn’t much they can do. Jen is started to feel defeated since she knows they are in last place. Nate tells her that he loves her and waits for her to look at him. He is trying to calm her down and says they do not handle stress well.

TK comes cruising on up and turns everything in. They are in first place and off to the pit stop. Teams have to travel 14 miles to Bandra Fort, which is a 16th century fortress. Nick finishes and heads off towards the pit stop. Ron finally finishes and heads back to propane station.

It is a race between the goths and Nate & Jen. They both arrive around the same time. Kynt decides to do the road block and Jen does it for her team. She says she is small, but she can lift a lot. Vyxsin says they should have U-Turned Nate & Jen since they probably U-Turned a team that was ahead of them. Ya think? Kynt seems to have a crazy bike that has no brakes so he’s running into things constantly. Someone points out where the brake is since it was there, he just wasn’t using it. There aren’t many things on the bike, so you think he would figure out one of the pedals might do something. He finds someone to direct him to his first delivery. Jen makes her first delivery too, but she doesn’t grab the receipt. Ah, Jen. Will you ever learn to pay attention to details?

Jen and Kynt arrive at the same building. He’s on his first delivery and she’s on her second. This one has an elevator and he’s already loading his tanks in it. It is too small for both of them and the tanks. Jen said she would walk her tanks up the five flight of stairs, but his delivery is only on the second floor so it would be a waste of time. While he is up there, she can’t get the elevator to come back down for her since he hasn’t closed the lift gates. She is yelling up for him to close it, but he’s dealing with his customer and probably wants to delay her in the process. She decides to run up the stairs to close it for him. She yells at him about leaving it open. Kynt is getting his receipt while Jen is dropping off her tank. The lady asks Jen if she forgot anything and she remembers the receipt. She gets it and then realizes she has to go back to the first place to get the receipt from that too.

Kynt makes his second delivery while Jen is picking up her second receipt. She turns everything in and gets the final clue. I realize with the second delivery that Kynt is giving people the order slip and taking the receipt when he needs to keep both. Uh oh! Someone else not paying attention to details! He turns in his receipts to the lady with the clue and she asks for the order slips. He gets on his bike to go get them. This looks like the end for them. Nate and Jen are asking directions on how to get to the fort. People are telling them that it is only 2-5 min. away. Is that walking or taking a taxi? Others took a taxi, but they are running. They seem to love to run in this game.

Jen & Nate realize they have been sent in the wrong direction so Jen starts freaking out. They find someone that knows where it is, but he says it is too far for him to take them there and come back. Jen clarifies whether they should walk or drive and he tells them it is too far to walk and they need to take a cab. Kynt is picking up his order slips and getting the pit stop clue. They find a cab and get in. Nate & Jen find a cab and head to the pit stop. Who will come in last?

Bandra Fort, India

Nick doesn’t feel well in the taxi. He really needs water. They have to pull over since he’s sick. TK & Rachel arrive at the fort and are team number one around the time that the goths and Nate & Jen are starting the road block. Nick & Don arrive in second place, even with that short pit stop in the taxi ride over. They check in after Jen has finished her first delivery and Ron & Christina are on their way to the pit stop. Ron & Christina are the third team to arrive after Kynt has made his first delivery and Jen has made her second but needs to get the receipt from the first delivery.

Jen is spazzing big time in the cab and talking about the goths having witch powers and are probably ahead of them. Haha! Unfortunately, Nate & Jen arrive in fourth place. boo! Phil asks them if they know who is behind them. Nate says he think it’s the goths, but since they have been beating them everywhere today, they wouldn’t be surprised if they checked in 10 min. ago.

The goths are in last place and are eliminated. Phil tells them they are the most fashionable teams that has ever been on the race and he is sad to see them go. I’m sad to see them go too, but I’m really sad that Nate & Jen are still in the race more than anything.

  1. TK & Rachel – 5-night trip to St. Martin
  2. Nick & Don
  3. Ron & Christina
  4. Nate & Jen
  5. Last Place – Kynt & Vyxsin

Photo Source: Amazing Race

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