Leg 8 (April 12th) Recap * Possible Spoilers *
Leg 8 sees the teams departing from the Kwai River Lodge in Northern Botswana at the following times: 12:45 - Rob & Amber 12:46 – Ron & Kelly 2:08 – Uchenna & Joyce 3:00 – Lynn & Alex 3:45 – Meredith & Gretchen (I still can’t believe they finished before Greg & Brian in leg 7) Teams flew via charter planes to Francistown, where they had pre-arranged tickets to Mumbai, India. They had to make their own flight arrangements to Delhi, however. Alex borrowed a cell phone from someone and arranged tickets arriving in Lucknow, India, at 9:35 for he & Alex, Uchenna & Joyce, and Meredith & Gretchen. Meanwhile, Rob & Ron got help from the ticket lady to arrange tickets for themselves that arrived in Lucknow, India 5 minutes earlier. Rob told the ticket lady that if any of the other teams wanted to book the same tickets to tell them “no” and simply point to him (Rob) as the reason why. Funny! :lol: Rob & Amber and Ron & Kelly ended up arriving 8 minutes before the other teams. They made their way to some place called the Bouli in the Bara-Imambara Palace, where the next clue directed them to take a horse-drawn “tonga” (carriage) to the Steel Emporium. A Yield awaited them at the emporium, and although Ron & Kelly arrived only steps in front of Rob & Amber they opted not to yield them or anyone else. Rob said that if Ron & Kelly were any kind of players at all, they would yield them (Rob & Amber), and I agree. I don’t think Ron & Kelly will be in the race much longer. As it turned out, no one was yielded during this leg. A roadblock at the Steel Emporium required that teams search through stacks of metal boxes for the next clue. Alex found his clue very quickly, while Gretchen seemed to be searching randomly and aimlessly. Since they had a head start from the airport, however, Rob & Amber and Ron & Kelly finished the task and found bicycle rickshaws that took them to a gas station in Aishbah Indane, where a Detour awaited them. The Detour options were Solid or Liquid. In Solid, teams had to break up chunks of coal and fill 2 burlap sacks until they weighed a total of 175 pounds. The sacks then had to be delivered to a store 4 blocks away.In Liquid, teams had to push a tea cart 100 yards to a three-story office building. They then had to deliver one cup of tea at a time to five (out of a list of ten) different employees, in exchange for a business card. All teams chose the Liquid option, so we didn’t get to see if the Solid option would have been faster or harder or what. Personally, I would have tried the breaking up of coal before searching through a building for people with names I could not distinguish from one another. Uchenna & Joyce seemed to breeze through this one, and passed Lynn & Alex, who had passed them at the Roadblock. Rob & Amber enlisted yet another English-speaking local to help them, and finished first. They returned their cart and receive their clue, with Ron & Kelly right behind them. The clue directed teams thusly: Rob & Amber took a cab and Ron & Kelly opted for a rickshaw in their race to the Charbagh Multi Story Flats. Rob & Amber arrived first and found Phil waiting at the mat on the roof, where Phil greeted them with “You guys probably think this is the end of the leg? I don’t want to hold you up; I have your other clue. You’re still racing, this leg is not over.” The leg continues…next week! This is how Phil looks when he tells them they are still racing: This is Amber’s reaction: I agree with Amber. :evil: Until next week… :roll: *Edited to correct the Meredith & Gretchen nameswap...curse his parents for naming him Meredith! :twisted:

:grin: Great recap, Brad, just one thing, tho, t'was Gretchen that wandered aimlessly around the tin boxes for what seems like forever looking for the clue. Meridith is the husband. I *heart* them, you don't suppose they'd adopt me do you???

They should have done this in a 2 hour show :mad: :mad: :mad: .... Gretchen was driving me nuts when she was looking for the clue....just wandering looking at the boxes without looking....yep you'll find the clue real fast that way. I would like to have seen someone break the coal as well.

I agree...excellent recap. One point...the "Solid" detour option was only ONE mile from the cluebox, and the "Liquid" option was THREE miles from the cluebox. Traveling in rickshaws to the teashop was TIME-CONSUMING. It still boggles me that NOT ONE team tried the solid detour. Race fatigue must be at a serious high. :eek: Loved the pictures, Brad! Though it looks like Phil is constipated! :shock: Maybe he shouldn't have drunk the water. :razz:

When Amber read the clue, she caught on that it was written differently and didn't say anything about elimination. Alex (and someone else...can't remember who) didn't cover their heads when they went into the temple. Also, I thought they had to read their clues together...as part of the rules....Alex opened his clue (from the steel boxes) right there and then went to Lynn and read it again...wonder if there's a penalty for that.

Rob told the ticket lady that if any of the other teams wanted to book the same tickets to tell them “no” and simply point to him (Rob) as the reason why. Funny! I liked that one. Giggled out loud, I did. :lol: A Yield awaited them at the emporium, and although Ron & Kelly arrived only steps in front of Rob & Amber they opted not to yield them or anyone else. Rob said that if Ron & Kelly were any kind of players at all, they would yield them (Rob & Amber), and I agree. I agree, too. I think what stopped them is that Rob and Amber were standing right there, and they didn't have the guts to use the yield on them when they were looking at them. (Oh no! They'll see us do it. We can't use the yield now! :wink: ) What a couple of chickens. I hope it costs them. A roadblock at the Steel Emporium required that teams search through stacks of metal boxes for the next clue. Alex found his clue very quickly, while Meredith seemed to be searching randomly and aimlessly. Meredith? He didn't do the roadblock. What are you talking about? Are we watching the same show? :twisted: :wink:

P.S. I love your new avatar Brad. :grin:

Re: Leg 8 (April 12th) Recap * Possible Spoilers *
I'm wondering how much money Meredith and Gretchen have acquired if she felt safe enough financially to purchase a backpack at the airport...although she did shop around for a cheap one. It looked like Meredith was using black garbage bags. Rob & Ron got help from the ticket lady to arrange tickets for themselves that arrived in Lucknow, India 5 minutes earlier. Rob told the ticket lady that if any of the other teams wanted to book the same tickets to tell them “no” and simply point to him (Rob) as the reason why. Funny! :lol: Hey, Rob can be nice...if the person he's being nice to is helping him be nasty to his competitors. As all the teams were trying to make travel arrangements, Kelly is caught on camera telling Ron "You have to keep your enemies closer." to explain why they need to keep cooperating with Rob & Amber. Cut to Rob who is telling his camera that their relationship with Ron and Kelly is one of "mutual respect". Uh, Rob? WRONG!! :lol: :lol: When their taxi driver stopped for gas (that seems to happen a lot doesn't it?), Ron quipped, "If it wasn't for bad luck, we'd have no luck at all." A roadblock at the Steel Emporium required that teams search through stacks of metal boxes for the next clue. Alex found his clue very quickly, while Gretchen seemed to be searching randomly and aimlessly. Since they had a head start from the airport, however, Rob & Amber and Ron & Kelly finished the task and found bicycle rickshaws that took them to a gas station in Aishbah Indane, where a Detour awaited them.This roadblock really frustrated Gretchen. Maybe that bump on her head was more serious than we thought. She was not thinking very clearly in her box search. The Detour options were Solid or Liquid. In Solid, teams had to break up chunks of coal and fill 2 burlap sacks until they weighed a total of 175 pounds. The sacks then had to be delivered to a store 4 blocks away.In Liquid, teams had to push a tea cart 100 yards to a three-story office building. They then had to deliver one cup of tea at a time to five (out of a list of ten) different employees, in exchange for a business card. Rob & Amber enlisted yet another English-speaking local to help them, and finished first. They returned their cart and receive their clue, with Ron & Kelly right behind them. Rob and Amber did get help but they started trying it on their own and Rob, IMO, was coming across as an "Ugly American". He was too loud and too abrasive sounding as he questioned everyone in the room. Of course, Gretchen wasn't any better when she realized that the man they gave their first cup of tea to wasn't on the list and then harangued him for being a "bad man", lying about his name, and trying to "steal" the other man's tea. Rob & Amber took a cab and Ron & Kelly opted for a rickshaw in their race to the Charbagh Multi Story Flats. Rob & Amber arrived first and found Phil waiting at the mat on the roof, where Phil greeted them with “You guys probably think this is the end of the leg? I don’t want to hold you up; I have your other clue. You’re still racing, this leg is not over.” The leg continues…next week!What a wild new twist! Of course I probably wouldn't have liked it so much if it had been a team I was rooting for that got to Phil first. As it was, my main reaction was, "Yea, no prize for Rob and Amber this time!" Well, at least not yet.