TAR18, Recap Leg 5, 3/20/11

Welcome to Leg 5! Last time, on I’m Lijiang on a Jet Plane, teams raced from Japan to China. The Goths can’t figure out how to get to Narita Airport and miss the required flight to Kunming. Everyone else manages to make it to the Pit Stop. . . where they are informed to keep going. And the Goths lose their fanny pack, find it, and end up with a thirty minute penalty at the end of the leg. Who will be eliminated. . . next? (click for more)

Arrival at the pit stop last episode:
1st – Margie/Luke, Team ASL
2nd – Jet/Cord, The Cowboy Brothers
3rd – Gary/Mallory , The Hillbillies
4th – Ron/Christina, Team Asian
5th – Kisha/Jen, Team Bathroom
6th – Flight Time/Big Easy, The Globetrotters
7th – Jaime/Cara, The Cheerios
8th – Zev/Justin, Team Aspergers
9th – Kent/Vyxsin, Team Goth

Eternal Tower, Lion Hill, Lijiang, China

Margie/Luke (1st)
Clue: Take the train 400 miles back to Kunming, China. Once there, make your way to the Dounan Flower Market to get your next clue. WARNING: There is a Double U-Turn somewhere on the leg.

Jet/Cord (2nd)
Gary/Mallory (3rd)
Ron/Christina (4th)
Kisha/Jen (5th)
Flight Time/Big Easy (6th)
Jaime/Cara (7th)
Zev/Justin (8th)
Kent/Vyxsin (9th) – who are in the process of finishing the last leg when the episode starts. For all of you that were left in suspense: they find the fanny pack, do the Hammer Detour, head to the mat, get greeted by Phil and a 30 minute penalty at the end of this leg, but keep racing with the pack. (Toyouke: “They already left 6 hours after the first flight, and you're going to give them a 30 minute penalty on top of it?! What for? Maybe if you didn't have so much BUNCHING.”)

Teams then arrive at the train station as follows:

1- Margie/Luke
2- Jet/Cord
3- Gary/Mallory
4- Ron/Christina
5- Kisha/Jen

6- Flight Time/Big Easy
7- Jaime/Cara
8- Zev/Justin
9- Kent/Vyxsin

Margie and Luke arrive at the train station, only to find that the first train out to Kunming doesn’t leave until 7:05 PM. And everyone makes the train. In the meantime, Flight Time, Kisha and Jet play Big Easy, Jen and Cord in three on three basketball, which is quite entertaining. (Toyouke: “I love this basketball game, so much fun. This is what I imagine Pit Stops used to be like before everyone started to strategize and get on the internet and who knows what.” Auburnium0513: “Love the basketball game. And then the cheerleaders killed it.”) And Kent and Vyxsin lie about what happened to them in Japan, so as to avoid the potential of a U-turn. (Toyouke: “Why are you telling this stupid story about how your car broke down and you don't know what your penalty is?”)

Teams take the train and arrive in Kunming in the following order:

1- Kisha/Jen
2- Ron/Christina
3- Zev/Justin
4- Margie/Luke
5- Jaime/Cara
6- Kent/Vyxsin
7- Jet/Cord
8- Gary/Mallory
9- Flight Time/Big Easy

They take taxis and arrive at the flower market in the following order:

1- Kisha/Jen
2- Zev/Justin
3- Ron/Christina
4- Margie/Luke
5- Jaime/Cara
6- Kent/Vyxsin
7- Jet/Cord
8- Gary/Mallory
9- Flight Time/Big Easy

Teams are then instructed to make their way by taxi to the Golden Horse and Jade Cock Arch to get their next clue. (Toyouke: “Golden arches...sigh. “ Auburnium0513: “They DID go to McDonald's!”) They arrive in the following order:

1- Ron/Christina
2- Zev/Justin
3- Margie/Luke
4- Kisha/Jen
5- Flight Time/Big Easy
6- Jaime/Cara
7- Kent/Vyxsin
8- Gary/Mallory
9- Jet/Cord

And we get the Detour Clue.

DETOUR:
Honor the Past OR Embrace the Future
*Honor the Past: Teams travel to a theater and watch a Tibetan performance. Once they’ve watched the show, they must place 15 dolls on a stage in the same order in which they appeared in the performance to get their next clue.
*Embrace the Future: Teams must go to the China Great Wall Management Assets Company and set up a solar heating system on the roof after carrying the parts up the stairs. Once complete, teams get their next clue.

1- Ron/Christina choose Honor the Past
2- Zev/Justin choose Honor the Past
3- Margie/Luke choose Embrace the Future
4- Kisha/Jen choose Honor the Past
5- Jaime/Cara choose Embrace the Future
6- Kent/Vyxsin choose Embrace the Future
7- Jet/Cord choose Embrace the Future
8- Gary/Mallory choose Honor the Past
9- Flight Time/Big Easy choose Embrace the Future

Teams complete the detour in the following order:

1- Zev/Justin
2- Kisha/Jen
3- Ron/Christina
4- Margie/Luke
5- Jaime/Cara
6- Jet/Cord
7- Kent/Vyxsin
8- Gary/Mallory
9- Flight Time/Big Easy

Teams are now instructed to travel to a location in the provided photo. Teams are to find the pictured location, the Yunaan Province Chinese Minority Heritage Center.

CAUTION: DOUBLE U-TURN AHEAD

This is a Double U-Turn. Teams may choose to u-turn any team they wish (well, the team has to be behind them), but they may only use the U-Turn once during the race. If a team is u-turned, they must go back to the Detour choices and complete the Detour that they did not complete. This U-Turn is doubled, meaning two teams may U-Turn two other teams. Phil, during his explanation, does not say how many U-Turns there will be on this race.

(Toyouke: “So the question is, if someone U-Turns me, can I still U-Turn someone else?”)

1-Margie/Luke choose not to U-Turn
2-Jet/Cord choose not to U-Turn
3-Kent/Vyxsin choose to U-Turn Jaime/Cara – so, wait, hear them out. Last time they used a U-Turn, they U-turned a team in front of them. Poor decision. The Cheerios are telling them to U-Turn Flight Time and Big Easy, because they are a strong team. (Toyouke: “Don't listen to Cara and Jamie. You should U-Turn them.”) But Kent thinks that since they are 100% sure that the Cheerios are behind them, they should be U-Turned. Good move. (Toyouke: “That was better than a Hidden Immunity Idol double blindside on Survivor!”)
4-Jaime/Cara have been U-Turned and choose to U-Turn Flight Time/Big Easy– (Toyouke: “That answers my question. Aww, that means the Globetrotters are in trouble.”)
5-Zev/Justin cannot U-Turn – which is good, since them and the three teams after them all got directions to the Kunming Minority Heritage Center.
6-Gary/Mallory cannot U-Turn
7-Kisha/Jen cannot U-Turn
8-Ron/Christina cannot U-Turn – (Toyouke: “I like that Christina can yell at the taxi driver in Chinese.“)
9-Flight Time/Big Easy have been U-Turned – (Toyouke: “I didn't think the Globetrotters were that far behind.)

So, the Cheerios and the Globetrotters head back to Honor the Past and complete the Detour. Once all this U-turn nonsense is taken care of, teams find their next clue, which tells them to travel outside of Kunming to the Stone Forest to get their next clue. They depart the clue box in the following order:

1- Margie/Luke
2- Jet/Cord
3- Kent/Vyxsin
4- Zev/Justin
5- Gary/Mallory
6- Kisha/Jen
7- Ron/Christina
8- Jaime/Cara
9- Flight Time/Big Easy

Teams arrive at the Stone Forest Clue Box in the following order:

1- Kisha/Jen
2- Ron/Christina
3- Margie/Luke
4- Kent/Vyxsin
5- Jet/Cord
6- Flight Time/Big Easy
7- Jaime/Cara
8- Zev/Justin
9- Gary/Mallory

Once they arrive, teams get the fourth roadblock clue.

ROADBLOCK:

Who’s ready for a task 65 million years in the making?

In this roadblock, one team member must choose a dig site and find a complete set of dilophosaurus bones and put them together in the right order. Once the structure is structurally safe, teams get their next clue from the paleontologist.

(Toyouke: “Oh, I love making those models! Of course...smaller. And I'm willing to bet that's not a real paleontologist.”)

The following teammates take the Roadblock:

1- Kisha
2- Christina
3- Margie
4- Kent
5- Jet
6- Big Easy
7- Jaime
8- Justin
9- Gary - and decide that since they are in last and it looks like a long task to use the Express Pass. (Toyouke: “I guess if you have to have a thing like the Express Pass, this is the right place to do it. You're in last, the task is long enough every team is still there, doesn't look like anything you can do quickly.”)

After much dinosaur construction and instruction on the correct placement of dinosaur hips (Auburnium0513: “I kind of feel like making a bad "beating a bone" joke.”), teams complete the Roadblock in the following order:

1- Gary/Mallory
2- Jet/Cord
3- Margie/Luke
4- Kisha/Jen
5- Kent/Vyxsin
6- Flight Time/Big Easy
7- Ron/Christina
8- Zev/Justin
9- Jaime/Cara

Teams get their clue and find that they must now make their way back to Kunming and find Green Lake Park, the PIT STOP of the fifth leg of this racearoundtheworld. The last team to arrive MAY be eliminated!

1- Jet/Cord – who win $5000 each.
2- Gary/Mallory
3- Margie/Luke
4- Kisha/Jen – who were actually fifth, but benefitted from the 30 minute penalty of. . .
5- Kent/Vyxsin
6- Flight Time/Big Easy
7- Ron/Christina
8- Zev/Justin
9- Jaime/Cara

And Jaime and Cara are eliminated. They are happy that they didn’t give up. But what’s Luke going to do now without his race girlfriends?

ORDER NOW:
1st – Jet/Cord
2nd – Gary/Mallory
3rd – Margie/Luke
4th – Kisha/Jen
5th – Kent/Vyxsin
6th – Flight Time/Big Easy
7th – Ron/Christina
8th – Zev/Justin

Next week: India! And Luke can’t finish his tea. (Kmanpat: “Don’t worry, Luke, I’ll help you drink your tea.”) Until next time!