TAR14, Recap Leg 7, 3/29/09

Welcome to Leg 7! Last time, on Shake Shake Shake Your Hips For Tips teams raced from Novosibirsk, Russia, to Jaipur, India where teams helped out the camels by stuffing hay wherever that they could find a spot. The Flight Attendants had a very cool speed bump, but were slow to complete it and finished in last place. Who will be eliminated. . . next? (click for more)


Arrival at the pit stop last episode:
1st – Tammy/Victor, Team Asian
2nd – Mel/Mike, Team Rainbow
3rd – Kisha/Jen, The Athletes
4th – Margie/Luke, Team ASL
5th – Jaime/Cara, The Cheerleaders
6th – Mark/Michael, The Stuntmen

Jaigahr Fort, Jaipur, India

10:21 AM Tammy/Victor (1st)
Clue: Fly 2000 miles to Phuket, Thailand! Once there, travel by taxi to find the statue in this picture. (The picture is of a giant gorilla, located at the Phuket Zoo.) You must book your tickets either at the airport or at the Riya Holidays travel office. You have $130 for this leg of the race.

(Toyouke: “I am waiting for a mispronunciation of ‘Phuket’.”)

Tammy has been to Phuket before! “But, my parents wouldn’t let me go to the beach!”

10:50 AM Mel/Mike (2nd) – Mel: “Phuket, my favorite city!” Mike: “Do you speak any Thai?” Mel: “Mai Tai.” *crickets* Mel: “That was a pun.” Mike: “I know, dad.”

11:02 AM Kisha/Jen (3rd) – and Kisha gives money to the kids. You may need that later, darling.

11:03 AM Margie/Luke (4th) – Margie: “My arms are tired from signing all the time. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.” That’s foreboding.

11:04 AM Jaime/Cara (5th) – Cara: “Jaime is not a patient person, she just doesn’t have strength for noise, or different languages.” Or, really, anything that foreign travel has to offer? (Auburnium513: “That's wonderful, that's exactly why you should go on an INTERNATIONAL race!!”)

11:11 AM Mark/Michael (6th) – Mark: “We know Phuket, it’s known for its diving.”

Teams arrive at Riya Holidays in the following order:

1- Tammy/Victor
2- Mel/Mike
3- Margie/Luke
4- Mark/Michael
5- Kisha/Jen

Teams arrive at Jaipur International Airport in the following order:

1- Jaime/Cara

Teams all end up on the same flight from Jaipur to New Dehli to Bangkok to Phuket, and then the Amazing Red Line takes us from Jaipur to Bangkok to Phuket, forgetting to stop in New Dehli.

Teams exit the airplane and grab taxis in the following order:

1- Mark/Michael
2- Jaime/Cara – who find out their driver is named Sek. Cara: “Jaime talks to them like little kids. If I were them I’d be calling her a witch with a b.” FINALLY, after 14 seasons someone realizes that this is NOT the way to talk to locals.
3- Margie/Luke
4- Kisha/Jen
5- Tammy/Victor – who find out their cab driver’s name is Bandit. Victor: “That means teacher in Thai.” Tammy: “Or AWESOME!”
6- Mel/Mike – whose cab driver take them to Patong Beach instead of the Zoo. Oh dear.

After much running around in traffic and asking about the monkey statue (Toyouke: “Gorillas are not monkeys. Gorillas are apes. They don't have tails.”), teams arrive at the Phuket Zoo in the following order:

1- Mark/Michael
2- Jaime/Cara
3- Kisha/Jen
4- Tammy/Victor
5- Margie/Luke
6- Mel/Mike

Teams then find the gorilla hiding in the brush in the following order:

1- Jaime/Cara
2- Mark/Michael
3- Kisha/Jen
4- Tammy/Victor
5- Margie/Luke
6- Mel/Mike

Teams are then told to take a walk on the wild side, or rather, have the wild side walk on them. First, teams should have their picture taken with Esso the tiger. (Auburnium513: “Yes, running around yelling "tiger, tiger" in a non-English speaking country is going to help you SO much.” Toyouke: “I still love that the tiger keeper only has one arm.”) Teams then run to the elephant pen to take part in a traditional Thai performance. Teams then race back to the tiger pen to get their picture which is attached to the next clue. Teams complete the tasks in the following order:

1- Mark/Michael – Mark notices that the tiger handler only has one arm.
2- Jaime/Cara – who call the Stuntmen the Tweedles. Hee.
3- Kisha/Jen - Kisha: “I’m surprised that the tiger didn’t eat the Stuntmen, they’re bite-size! And I just took a picture with a tiger and didn’t pee myself.”
4- Tammy/Victor
5- Margie/Luke
6- Mel/Mike

Teams are now instructed to travel to Old Phuket Town and find Nguan Choon Tong Herbs Shop, the oldest herb shop in Phuket. (Toyouke: “I wonder if the herb shop has always had that nice English sign proclaiming it the oldest.”) Teams then take turns having the shopkeeper open the 99 spice drawers to find one of six clues. Teams arrive in the following order:

1- Jaime/Cara
2- Mark/Michael
3- Kisha/Jen
4- Tammy/Victor
5- Margie/Luke
6- Mel/Mike

Teams get their next clue in the following order:

1- Mark/Michael
2- Kisha/Jen
3- Margie/Luke
4- Tammy/Victor
5- Jaime/Cara – (Toyouke: “Boy are those girls cranky.”)
6- Mel/Mike

And teams get the Detour Clue.

DETOUR:
100 Barrels OR 2 Miles
*100 Barrels: Teams travel to Pae Yod Harbor, where they help prepare a ship for 10 days at sea. They must load 53 empty barrels on top of the ship for the fish, and 47 barrels full of drinking water on the deck. Once done, the ship’s captain will give them their next clue.
*2 Miles: Teams travel to a nearby temple and choose a rickshaw. Teams can use the provided bicycle pumps to reinflate tires as necessary. Then, one member should transport the other to King Rama IX Park to get their next clue. Teams may not follow anyone to the checkpoint.

1-Mark/Michael choose 2 Miles
2-Jaime/Cara choose 100 Barrels – and then Bald Snark to 2 Miles when they can’t find Pae Yod.
3-Margie/Luke choose 100 Barrels – and then Bald Snark to 2 Miles when they can’t find Pae Yod.
4-Tammy/Victor choose 2 Miles
5-Margie/Luke choose 100 Barrels
6-Mel/Mike choose 100 Barrels

Teams complete the detour in the following order:

1- Mark/Michael – who first put all of the bike pumps into the box to confuse people. In my opinion, good strategic move. (Toyouke: “That was kind of underhanded with the pumps. I guess it's legal, but coming from racist bastards I am offended. Plus you can't talk about how you are so superior to other teams and then feel the need to mess with them like that.”) Then, they pay their taxi driver to lead them to King Rama IX Park. Ooh, not so good.
2- Jaime/Cara
3- Tammy/Victor – who drop off their rickshaw too early.
4- Margie/Luke – and Margie has chills from running in the heat. Um, that’s not good.
5- Kisha/Jen
6- Mel/Mike


Teams are then instructed to walk, run, or hire a taxi to Wat Thep Nimit, a temple in Phuket. This will be the seventh PIT STOP for this racearoundtheworld. The last team to check in here MAY be eliminated!

Teams check in at the PIT STOP in the following order:

1- Tammy/Victor – who win a trip for two to Oahu.
2- Jaime/Cara
3- Mark/Michael – who actually arrived first, but were assessed two thirty minute penalties (Toyouke: “Oh! TWO penalties! Ha on you!”), the first for messing with the pumps, the second for using a guide to the park. The problem is, they run so fast ANYWAY, that the next team only showed up with 5 minutes of penalty time left.
4- Margie/Luke – where on check in, Margie faints into Luke’s and Phil’s arms.
5- Kisha/Jen
6- Mel/Mike – (Toyouke: “This ending ruins the penalty satisfaction. It makes me cry.”)

Mel and Mike are eliminated, and the entire world was saddened by their loss.

ORDER NOW:
1st – Tammy/Victor
2nd – Jaime/Cara
3rd – Mark/Michael
4th – Margie/Luke
5th – Kisha/Jen

Next week: Teams travel to Bangkok and end up in Karaoke Cabs! (Toyouke: “The only thing that would make that better is if they were doing karaoke with drag queens.”) Oh, and Mark and Michael lose their backpacks. Why are people on this race so idiotic all of a sudden? (Auburnium513: “Now we know why they stopped having Phil mug people...the racers are doing it to themselves!”) Until next time!