Amazing Race 13
Episode Eight:
Humayun’s Tomb, Delhi, India to
Old Square, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Phil reminds us that six teams continued their journey through Delhi…Holi Festival…Tina and Ken’s Speed Bump…Teary Eyed…Bleary Eyed…find Humayun's Tomb…who will be eliminated next…
Phil also informs us that Delhi was founded over 2,200 years ago, and is one of the most populated cities in the world—as well as the seventh pit stop on a race around the world.
I had a really strange feeling about the last segment in Delhi, and at first I thought it was just the Holi Festival, but actually it may be more a factor that it may have been probably the shortest leg of any Amazing Race. According to my estimates, the teams travelled less than 10 miles, and the fastest team, Nick and Star, completed the leg in 1:19 minutes. In any event, the first and last teams were separated by only 1:46.
As we knew from the previous episode, Nick and Starr were the first to arrive at Humayun’s Tomb, but now we know that they arrived at 10:14 AM, and that the last non-eliminated team (the Frat Bros.) arrived at noon.
As Nick and Starr leave the pit stop at 10:14 PM, we find out that the teams are now on their way to Almaty, Kazakhstan, and have US$403 for this leg of the race.
So before I go any further, this allows me to take a research detour to find out what ‘stan’ means when it is a suffix to a countries name. The answer is pretty simple, it means home land.
Phil tells us that teams must fly 1,000 miles from Delhi to Almaty, Kazakhstan, but neglects to mention that this distance is as the crow flies, and it does not appear that any airline flies like a crow. Although Almaty is only about 1,000 miles north of Delhi, the teams go to significant lengths to get there.
The Frat Boys, who arrive in Almaty last, actually take the shortest path. We see the Frat Boys leaving Delhi (DEL) on Emirates Flight 513 for Dubai. This flight number is still making the same run, leaving Delhi at 4:15 AM and arriving in Dubai (DXB) at 6:30 AM. They could have changed to Air Astana Flight 896 which departs Dubai at 11:20 AM arriving in Almaty (ALA) at 5:40 PM. This flight costs $851.70 and covers 3,109 miles and takes 12:25 with connections. The problem is that in reality, the Frat Bros. landed just after dawn the next day.
Terrence and Sarah make their way to Almaty by Moscow. Some of these flights have changed, but a flight on Aeroflot (536 which was also the flight shown on the video), now leaves Delhi at 5:00 AM (it was 4:30 AM on the video), arriving in Moscow (SVO) at 9:00 AM. This flight which costs US$653.60, covers 2,693 miles and takes 6:30.
The most efficient way that I could find to get from Moscow to Almaty is via Istanbul. Turkish Airlines flight 1414 leaves Moscow (SVO) at 1:40 PM arriving in Istanbul (IST) at 3:55 PM. They could then leave Istanbul on Turkish Airlines 1352 which leaves Istanbul at 5:25 PM arriving in Almaty (ALA) at 2:50 AM (the next morning, on the show they were to arrive around 1:20 AM). This segment costs $652.70 covers 3,518 miles and takes 8:10. From Delhi to Almaty the total distance flown would be 6,211 miles and take 21:20.
The others (Nick, Starr, Toni, Dallas, Ken and Tina) leave Delhi (DEL) for Frankfurt on Lufthansa. On the show they leave at 2:25, but the closest in the schedule now is flight 761 that leaves at 3:05 AM and arrives in Frankfurt (FRA) 8:15 later at 6:50 AM (Frankfurt time). During the show we hear Toni tell Dallas there is a connecting flight that would get them in to Almaty at 11:50 PM, but I could not find it. Instead Lufthansa flight 646 leaves Frankfurt at 12:50 PM arriving in Astana (TSE) at 11:20 PM. It then continues onto Almaty arriving in Almaty at 2:00 AM (the next day). The total cost of this route is US$2,964.10, covers 7,078 miles in 22:25.
This map shows the various routes, including the shortest distance which no airline flies.
View Larger Map
It does appear that most of the teams arrive in the middle of the night, and we have our first ‘Time Out’ of this Amazing Race. A ‘Time Out’ occurs when the teams in the lead have to wait to perform a task at a site with a fixed opening time. It is effectively a penalty on the fastest teams because it bunches up all the teams by allowing the laggards time to catch up.
As long as we are waiting for the Chicken Factory to open, why don't I use the time to find out about Kazakhstan and Almaty.
And what better source for information on an obscure country between Russia and China than my friends at the CIA, who provide lots of information including: Kazakhstan is slightly less than four times the size of Texas; the prominent ethic groups according to the 1999 census are Kazakh (53.4%), Russian (30%), Ukrainian (3.7%), Uzbek (2.5%), German (2.4%), Tatar (1.7%), Uygur (1.4%) and other (4.9%); and the main religions are Muslim (47%), Russian Orthodox (44%), Protestant (2%), and other (7%).
Scrabble fans will be interested in the fact that the state language is Kazakh or Qazaq, (64.4%) and I like the way the CIA phrases this: Russian [is the] official [language], used in everyday business, [and is] designated the ‘language of interethnic communication’ (95%). Finally for the weather buffs, the climate is described as continental, cold winters and hot summers, arid and semiarid.
Let’s check and see if is it 7:30 AM—no, well then let’s find out more about the city the teams are about to wreck havoc upon.
Apparently Almaty is the business center of Kazakhstan. The history also looks worth a read, and can be found here and more background is available here.
Maps here are perhaps the most problematic of any spot on any of the Races. Google has little to offer in this country—there are great satellite views but the highways appear to be overlaid as point-to-point straight lines that go right through buildings. No streets appear to be labeled. Come’ on Google, let’s get some more data so that the poor Almaties can get driving directions to their nearest Starbucks.
View Larger Map
Meanwhile, back at the АдEдЬ АГРО Chicken Factory (sorry if you don’t have the Cyrillic font installed), as the sun rises we see a fenced compound with barb wire on the top and an elevated guard tower, which seems a little spooky given that chickens can't fly.
Sunrise Over the Chicken Factory Guard Tower.
Roadblock: Who is Feeling Plucky?
A roadblock is a task that only one team member…
In this roadblock that team member must enter one of the chicken coops and wearing booties, a pseudo-protective suit with a hood, and a totally inadequate mask, search among 30,000 chickens and their droppings, for one of seven golden eggs to get their next clue.
So is no one on the Race aware of the threat of bird flu? Okay the CDC only recommends you stay away from bird farms in areas affected by H5N1 but at least you would think this would get the teams delayed as they head to the next country―most countries want to know if a traveler entering their country has been around livestock or on a farm. The team members have basically home-handyman quality masks on, and they pull them off their faces to talk to each other. I wouldn't have gone near that site without a N95 mask, and I don't think I could carry enough Lysol Wipes in a backpack to clean up exposure to the chicken coop.
In any event, this does seem that hard a task, certainly not worth the exposure, which takes us to the Fast Forward.
Fast Forward: Eat Local Delicacy
Phil tells us that this is the second of only two (therefore it is the last) Fast Forward on the Race, and the team which completes it first may skip all the other tasks and go directly to the pit stop.
To win this fast forward teams must go to a restaurant and enjoy a typical Kazakh feast of fat from a sheep’s butt. The Kazakh people give new meaning to the concept of using all of the animal, but I am confused because the instructions appear to let them choose whatever entree they wanted, but they all seem to have been served what looked like the same dish.
When they get to the nice looking but unnamed restaurant, the menu states:
Party on Fast Forward Style
Each of you order a traditional
Kazakh entree from the menu and
eat your entree serving to win the
Fast Forward Award.
Below that were more instructions, but I could only read two of the three lines:
Additional Information
Each of you gets a serving and you may not share.
This is a traditional Kazakh dish, you should be respectful
of their culture and make every effort to eat it with decorum.
I guess decorum means without throwing up as some team members did on previous races. So a little review for those of you still thinking: ‘Hey, competing on the Race could be fun.’ Or maybe if you are on the Race, then please also keep this in mind.
Don’t take a Fast Forward, don’t even go there to see what the task is, unless you are totally willing to do anything to jump to the front of pack. Everyone who claims even mild interest in the Race knows by now that people have had to do permanent things, like get a tattoo, or mildly embarrassing things, like shave their heads, to win a Fast Forward. So if you’re a vegetarian and are unwilling to eat meat in order to win a million dollars just take the normal path through the segment.
In any event, Nick and Starr and Terrence and Sarah race to the Fast Forward. In the cab as they are leaving the chicken facility Sarah says: “Babe, I don’t think this is a good idea.” To which Terrence, who is always willing to consider another person’s feelings and who wants to have an open and complete dialog in order to fully reflect on the choice before him says, “I do.” Sarah should think long and hard before she utters that phrase.
When he finds out that it he has to eat meat, Terrence still really doesn’t hold to his beliefs and admit at that point he can’t do the task (and there are health reasons for not wanting to start wolfing down meat after being a vegetarian). So potential racers, don't be like Terrence, just don’t start. Don’t break your 15- or 16-year vegetarian lifestyle. Just admit that you’re not going to be able to do it and you might get back to the other tasks in a reasonable amount of time. But once you take the first bite, give up on the whining, your vegetarian streak is over. It only takes one bite to end it.
Starr does what I think is the smart tactic, she purposefully does not look to see what the item they are eating is, she is just going to eat it.
Meanwhile, back at the Chicken Factory…
Route Info: Find Mongol Warrior
Once a team finds a golden egg, they get a clue that reads:
Search the grounds for the
giant crane trucks
then travel by truck to the
Kok Tobe Arch at the foothills
of the Tien Shan Mountains.
Once there, follow the marked path to
the Mongol Warriors. Your
Warrior will lead you up a hill
where you will wait for your next clue.
If you scroll down below the map there is a pretty good description of this Tien Shan range here.
This was really nicely done, a huge bird of prey, which I thought was a hawk, but CBS says was an eagle, flew across a field from one warrior to another to deliver the clue.
What was disappointing was this was a big setup to nothing. Instead of having them perform some kind of related Mongolian related task, like build a yurt, or shooting an arrow from a galloping horse, okay maybe just shooting an arrow, all we get is the next detour. And why did they have to waste gas by travelling from the chicken factory to the park by large crane? I still cannot figure out if Almaty is the crane capital of Kazakhstan or not.
Detour: Act Like Fools or Play Like Mad
In this detour teams have to choose between two tasks…
‘In Play Like Mad,’ which no one quite wisely selected, teams had to travel to the Museum of Folk Musical Instruments, and learn how-to play a simple tune with two musical instruments, the Dombra and the Shan Koby’s. But what CBS calls the Shan Koby's is according to National Geographic a ‘shang qobyz,’ a Kazakh Jaw Harp. Not only did they have to learn the musical number, but then they had to play for tips in a local park. I’m not sure how many teams they actually thought would pick this.
In ‘Act Like Fools,’ teams had to take a cab to a children’s theatre, and then dressed in a two-person cow costume, find their way through Almaty to a milk stall and then to a meat stall in the Zelyoniy Bazaar.
Okay, there were a couple of tricks here: like the fact that the directions to the market were written on the bottom of the glass, and a team member had to read the directions to know that you had to take the cow’s head to the meat market, but this was really a quite simple task.
Pit Stop: Old Square
Nick and Starr finish their meal, win the Fast Forward, and are the first team to arrive at the pit stop, the Old Square in a downtown park. Each of them wins a 180 horsepower wave runner.
Toni and Dallas are the second team, and thanks to their help in correcting Ken and Tina’s cow suit mistake, Ken and Tina were third.
The Frat Bros. didn’t read the clue correctly and took a cab to the pit stop, so they were sent back for remedial clue reading, which required them to go back to the end of the detour and return on foot. Nonetheless, Terrence and Sarah, due to wasting time on the Fast Forward were the last team to arrive and therefore were eliminated.