Amazing Race 10 Goes to Mongolia
Tonight's episode started like most other Amazing Race episodes. The teams left their last ending place (the Great Wall of China) in the order that they arrived. The new clue they received was sending them on a journey of 963 miles to the Mongolian Capital City of Ulaanbaatar, where they would go to a Shojin Temple to observe a ceremony and get their next clue.
Contestants raced to the bus station to get the earliest departure time of midnight, the others departed at 2:00 am. The charter bus took them to the Erlian Train Station in Erenhot, China. From here, they were to get a train to Ulaanbaatar. Despite the staggered departure times, the teams were all caught up together waiting for the train to Ulaanbaatar. While at the train station, the Beauty Queens attempted to scout around to try and get a better time, but they were unsuccessful. Meanwhile, outside the station, Peter and Sarah were busy trying to put on some kind of show. Sarah's prosthetic leg was attracting a crowd. So she hopped up to "give a little demonstration". Now, I am all for understanding differences and such, but I really thought that Sarah was jumping around like a trained pony. Particularly after Peter tried to get the crowd to pay them money for her exploits. Come on! You should have more class than that!
Once the teams got off the trains, they hailed taxis to take them to the Temple. Only one team had trouble with their taxis this time. Tyler and James' taxi driver took them way out of the way. Upon completion of this task, the new instructions they were given sent them 43 miles to Terelj by ancient Russian military jeep to a riverbed where they will then be choose horses for a 2.5 mile trek to find their next clue.
None of them were given maps in their clues. Some teams were smart and stopped at a Travel Agent, others found people on the street to ask. Lyn & Karlyn and Mary & Dave convinced people to accompany them part of the way. Still other teams Rob & Kimberly, Tom & Terry and Kellie & Jamie just decided to drive and figure it out as they went along. Now, did I mention that they were in ANCIENT Russian jeeps? Tyler & James got a flat tire. The good news? There was a jack in the car. The bad news? The jack was broken. After being passed by teams seizing the opportunity to get ahead of someone, they were eventually helped by some good Samaritans. Dave & Mary along with their passenger/helper got stuck in the mud. Not just a little bit. Honestly looking at how deep they were stuck, I am surprised they were able to get out of the car. AR sent along a new car for them, but they are not afforded extra time for the problem.
Once the teams got to the riverbed, they chose their horses and began the trek. They are outfitted with some official Mongol headgear and are on their way. Some had no problems getting on the horses. Rob & Kimberly were another story. Kimberly was freaked out at even the IDEA of getting on a horse. She conquers her fear only to have her horse take her right into a tree. That tree just jumped out at them! I love horses. They are beautiful and majestic creatures. That having been said I have ridden on horses twice and never will again, so I can sympathize with Kimberly. Remember that Rob & Kimberly are going on this trip to see if they should get married and spend the rest of their lives together. Well, first if you need a grueling world trip to do that, maybe things were doomed from the start, but Rob's reaction to Kimberly's misfortune speaks volumes. As she lay there on the ground crying (an probably hurting), Rob sits on his horse and keeps saying "I don't know what to do!" Hint Rob: get off the horse and help her up! Eventually their guide brings the horse back, but I don't think Kimberly rode it again. I can only recall her walking the horse from then on. They weren't the only team that had trouble with their horses. Dustin & Kandice had trouble too. One of them fell out of the saddle and was dragged about 300 feet before her foot finally fell out of the stirrup. (Don't worry, she is fine).
The horses take them to their next clue a DETOUR. They have the choice between two tasks. Take it Down or Fill it Up. In Take it Down, they will choose a traditional Mongolian Shelter, which Phil called a Ger, aka Yurt. They must then take down the walls and roof, pack them up and tie it to a camel for traveling. In Fill it Up, the teams choose a pack animal called heinik (help me here if you can, I came up empty with my internet searches) to a river and fill up 4 metal water jugs, bring them back to camp where they will need to fill a larger barrel to a pre-designated water mark.
Four teams chose Take it Down. Peter & Sarah, Duke & Lauren, Lyn & Karlyn and Kellie & Debbie. Peter became completely baffled by the Mongolian "knot system", so much so that they changed tasks mid-way through. Unfortunately, they did not fare any better with Fill it Up. Their pack animal ran out of control more than once, so they eventually went back to their packing and managed to get it done. Lyn & Karlyn also decided to switch tasks mid way through. Luckily, the change worked better for them.
All was not fun and games at Fill it Up either. The good news is no one else had animals running away from them. It was still not an easy task getting the water there and back without having lots of it spilled out. In the midst of one journey, one of the Beauty Queens ( I think it was Dustin) said "Where's the other helmet?" To which her teammate replied "I'm not worried about it." Hmmmm, you know when they bother to put little conversations like this in, there is a reason later.
Upon completing the task and getting the next clue, they must now drive 47 miles to Hotel Mongolia to find their next clue. I must admit to a small amount of malevolent glee when I heard the Beauty Queens read out their clue "You must ride the same horses back and wear all safety gear provided." Oops! Remember the helmet? Dustin and Kandice were the first ones to finish the task, but they lost their lead while searching for the missing helmet. Eventually, one of the guides found it for them and they were on their way. Edwin & Godwin also had a missing helmet, but luckily for them, they found it quickly. The last two teams to leave the riverbed were Lyn & Karlyn and Kellie & Jamie. Both teams came back from the task to find their cars dead. They could not get them started for anything. The cheerleaders were able to solicit help first. The person that came to help them, lifted the hood, took out a long metal rod, inserted it into the front of the car, and started cranking! Just like we have seen in old movies and cartoons. Lyn & Karlyn saw this and tried to do it themselves, but in the end got assistance as well.
All was not smooth sailing on the ride to the hotel. Erwin & Godwin's car broke down. Eventually they were helped by yet another good Samaritan -- it's a good thing that the Mongolian people were so friendly. Kellie & Jamie getting a late start, were convinced they were headed the wrong way and turned around to go miles and miles out of the way. Sadly, they realized their mistake and headed back the way they originally set out.
The clue at the hotel was a ROAD BLOCK. A task that only one person could complete. The Detour asked "Who is ready to aim high?" The person doing this task had to take part in an ancient Mongolian archery training exercise using a traditional Mongolian bow. They needed to shoot a flaming arrow into the air and hit a target 160 feet away to ignite the pyrotechnics in the target. Successful completion of this task gets them their next clue and the OK to run to the Pit Stop for this leg. Watching this segment was like watching first semester Archery class, sadly (luckily?) no one was set on fire. Kellie & Jamie were the last ones to arrive at the Road Block, and were unfortunately unable to complete the task. I must say kudos to Kellie for trying ever so hard to hit the target. She started when it was still light out and did not stop until well after dark. Being the last ones to arrive at the Pit Stop, they were eliminated from the race.
The winners of this leg won a trip for two to Mexico with all the amenities. Here is the finishing order:
1. Peter & Sarah
2. Tyler & James
3. Duke & Lauren
4. Tom & Terry
5. Dustin & Kandice
6. Rob & Kimberly
7. David & Mary
8. Erwin & Godwin
9. Lyn & Karlyn
10. Kellie & Jamie
Tune in next week to see what happens. Will Peter & Sarah be able to maintain their lead? Will Lyn & Karlyn be able to come from behind? Will Rob & Kimberly be able to keep from killing each other? We shall see....
Wendy