The Amazing Race Episode 19.05 I Feel Like I'm in the Circus (Bangkok, Thailand)

AMANI & MARCUS SCORE, TWINS STRIKE OUT

In a crazy dash to the finish through the chaotic streets of Bangkok, Thailand, married couple Amani & Marcus scored a victory while twins Liz & Marie were eliminated from the race.

GOING WITH GOD

Departing the Pit Stop in first place at 10:07am, professional snowboarders Andy & Tommy ripped open their clue, instructing them to make their way by songthaew taxi to Anda Adventures. Once there, they had to travel by local transportation, a four ton Asian elephant, up the Khlong Song Phraek River to find their next clue. Before leaving the Pit Stop, the professional snowboarders revealed their key strength in running the race. Andy said, "Faith in God is definitely very important to me and to Tommy." He recited the Bible verse written on his backpack from Proverbs, "Do not have zeal without knowledge or be hasty and miss the way." Tommy also shared the Bible verse on his backpack, "Be joyful always. Pray continually." Andy added, "God opened up the door and we're just grateful to be here."

ELEPHANT ADVENTURES

Arriving at Anda Adventures, Andy & Tommy excitedly hopped onto a massive elephant and began the slow trek up the Khlong Song Phraek River. Laughing in disbelief, Tommy marveled, "We're on an elephant right now." As the large legs of the elephant continued to move the snowboarders through the rocky terrain and flowing river, Andy said, "I never dreamed an elephant would be this nimble. It's crazy watching these things move." Reaching a wooden platform overlooking the swiftly moving river, Andy & Tommy jumped off their elephant and pulled their clue from a bucket to find a Roadblock. In it, one team member had to listen to and follow the sounds of a traditional Thai flautist that would lead them to a waterfall. Once there, they had to search the remote pool beneath the waterfall to find their next clue.

WATER MUSIC

After losing a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors to decide who would perform the Roadblock, Andy ran off through the forest and followed the music of the flautist until he reached the edge of the pool by the waterfall. Wasting no time, Andy dove into the water and began to search for the clue under the cascading waterfall, later saying, "It was really murky water, hard to see." Not sure what he was looking for, Andy decided to search near where the flautist was playing and quickly found a burlap bag. Returning to the rocky shore of the pond, he opened the bag to discover a ceramic koi fish. After running back to Tommy, Andy broke open the fish and found the next clue, instructing them to travel by songthaew to a local shop, disassemble a Thai shrine called a spirit house and deliver all the pieces to the Wat Chanathigaram temple.

TAKING IT APART

Arriving at Song Prak, Andy & Tommy jumped out of their songthaew and into the shop where dozens of workers painted and assembled the elaborate spirit houses. The professional snowboarders walked up to a finished spirit house and began taking it apart, but not before taking a mental note of each piece, from the small ceramic animals to flowers to bowls of water. After entirely deconstructing the spirit house, Andy & Tommy placed all the pieces, along with pedestal the spirit house rested upon, into the songthaew then rode to the nearby Wat Chanathigaram temple. At the temple, Andy & Tommy ripped open their clue to find a second Roadblock of the leg. In this Roadblock, the team member who did not perform the first Roadblock had to reassemble the spirit house - exactly as they found it.

PUTTING IT TOGETHER

Hauling out all the pieces of his golden spirit house from the songthaew, Tommy began the difficult task of trying to remember where each one needed to be placed. Once he believed he had the right order, he asked a judge, who did not give her approval. Tommy explained that he and Andy each took a side in disassembling the spirit house and Tommy did not pay much attention to Andy's side. After being turned down by the judge for a third time, a frazzled Tommy took the songthaew back to Song Prak to look at a finished example. On the ride, Tommy lamented, "I should've paid more attention and I knew it." Returning to Song Prak, Tommy took copious, detailed notes on his clue, even drawing a diagram of the completed spirit house. Armed with his information, Tommy rode back to Wat Chanathigaram temple and this time arranged each figurine, flower, bowl and every other piece of the spirit house in its correct place. After getting approval from the judge, Tommy picked up the next clue along with a bright orange bag full of fish food. Opening the clue, the professional snowboarders discovered they had to travel 550 miles by bus to Bangkok and make their way to the Bangkok Noi Canal where they would use the food they received to feed the fish.

TAKING NOTE

Arriving at Song Prak, tied for third place with dating couple Jeremy & Sandy, father and son adventurers Laurence & Zac began to disassemble their spirit house with Zac questioning whether they should take notes. When Laurence replied that note taking was not necessary, the father and son loaded their songthaew with the pieces of the spirit house and rode to Wat Chanathigaram temple. However, at the temple, Zac, who had to perform the Roadbock, soon regretted listening to his father's advice. Not having paid close attention, Zac could not remember the correct arrangement of the spirit house, forcing him to return to Song Prak to take proper notes. Before heading there, Zac told his dad, "I told you we needed to take notes." Laurence snapped back, "Don't blame me. It's your responsibility. We're losing time here." After studying the example at Song Prak, Zac returned to the temple and successfully recreated his spirit house after falling into fourth place behind Jeremy & Sandy. In a fifth place tie with Amani at the temple, Ernie made the same mistake as Tommy and Zac of not taking notes. After being rejected by the judge, Ernie hopped in his songthaew and returned to Song Prak as a worried Cindy waited. Frustrated with himself, Ernie said, "It's a bad day for Team Cindy and Ernie. They all seem to be my fault." With Amani completing her spirit house, Ernie fell into sixth place, barely ahead of Bill who took notes with Cathi before dissembling his spirit house. After scribbling notes, Ernie returned to the temple and finally got his clue as he told Cindy, "I screw up again."

PERFECT DAY

Departing the Pit Stop in last place, twins Liz & Marie arrived at Anda Adventures and squealed in delight when they saw their Speed Bump task. The twins had to wash and clean up after their local transport, the elephants. Picking up shovels, the giddy pair happily scooped elephant remains into buckets, saying, "I love elephants so much!" When it came time to wade into the river and wash the elephant, Liz & Marie again squealed as they said hello to their new pachyderm friend. Grabbing brushes, the twins scrubbed the elephant clean, exclaiming, "This is the best day of my life. No joke."

FIRST CLASS

Arriving at the Phuket Bus Terminal, Andy & Tommy could not believe the cost of their songthaew ride for the day: $150 US Dollars of the $186 they had in the start clue. Tommy later said, "We weren't really sure that we were supposed to give [the driver] that much money but that's what he was asking for. So it left us with very little." After settling up, the professional snowboarders bought tickets on a bus departing Phuket at 4:30pm that would arrive in Bangkok the next morning at 6am. Andy & Tommy were soon joined on their bus by siblings Justin & Jennifer and dating couple Jeremy & Sandy. When Laurence & Zac arrived at the bus terminal, the father and son adventurers discovered a different bus departing at 4:30pm, described to them by the agent as "first class." After buying the tickets, Laurence & Zac walked to their bus and realized that they would be on a different one than the other three teams. Zac immediately began to question to his father whether being on a first class bus would be an issue. Laurence replied, "No. Not at all." However, once the pair began their journey to Bangkok, Zac again insisted to Laurence that being on a first class bus could give them a penalty. This time Laurence conceded that his son could be correct, so the father and son got off their bus and began to walk back to the Phuket terminal, as Laurence said, "We're screwed now." As Laurence & Zac continued their trek back to the terminal, married couple Amani & Marcus and grandparents Bill & Cathi sat on a bus waiting for its scheduled 5:30pm departure to Bangkok. After getting into a heated argument with their songthaew driver over the sky high cost, engaged couple Ernie & Cindy bought tickets on a different bus to Bangkok, departing at 5:30pm. As the two separate busses pulled out, all three teams noticed the now frazzled looking Laurence & Zac walk into the terminal. The father and son found that the next available bus didn't depart until 8:00pm, leaving only twins Liz & Marie behind them.

ALL TAPPED OUT

Just as the bus carrying Laurence & Zac pulled away at 8:00pm, twins Liz & Marie arrived at Phuket terminal and encountered the same steep songthaew cost as the other teams did. After purchasing their bus tickets to Bangkok, the twins ended up having to pay their driver all the remaining money they had. To make matters worse, the bus the twins bought tickets for departed before they could finish paying him. With no more money to buy another set of tickets, the twins appeared out of luck until a station attendant told them the bus stopped and was waiting for them down the street. Getting a quick lift for free from their taxi driver, the grateful (and now penniless) twins boarded their bus and headed to Bangkok.

BUS TO BANGKOK

With five different buses carrying teams to Bangkok on different schedules and making different stops along the way, nobody knew where any teams stood in the race. Ernie & Cindy arrived in Bangkok first, followed by Jeremy & Sandy, Andy & Tommy, and Justin & Jennifer on the same bus. The bus carrying Amani & Marcus and Bill & Cathi arrived third, followed by Laurence & Zac on the fourth bus. In last place, twins Liz & Marie planned on walking everywhere since they had no money left. Arriving at Bangkok Noi Canal in first place, Ernie & Cindy opened the bag of food they carried from Phuket and began throwing it to the eager in the water. Cindy exclaimed, "Those are some huge fish!" After tossing all of their food into the canal, the engaged couple opened their next clue instructing them to find the next Pit Stop at the M.R. Kukrit Heritage Home.

VICTORY

As Ernie & Cindy struggled to find the Heritage Home, Amani & Marcus and Bill & Cathi arrived at the canal together in second place after their drivers took a shortcut to get there. Once the two teams fed the fish, they hopped back in their taxis in search of the Pit Stop. At the same time, Ernie & Cindy, stuck in traffic, decided to ditch their taxi driver and walk through the city. This gave Amani & Marcus and Bill & Cathi the perfect opportunity to jump ahead of the engaged couple. Arriving together at the M.R. Kukrit Heritage Home, Amani & Marcus beat out Bill & Cathi in a footrace to the mat. For the victory, the ecstatic married couple won a trip for two from Travelocity to Bali. Afterward, Marcus said, "We are like an NFL team. We're starting to get out momentum. I think we're a team to watch out for when it comes playoff time." Grandparents Bill & Cathi happily accepted second place, while engaged couple Ernie & Cindy settled for third.

KINDNESS OF STRANGERS

Pulling into the Bangkok bus station in last place, twins Liz & Marie initially began walking to Bangkok Noi Canal after mistakenly being told it was only three blocks away. After a second local correctly told the twins the canal would be a five hour walk, Liz & Marie came up with a new game plan. They asked a very generous taxi driver to take them to the canal for free. When he agreed, Liz said, "Very underestimate the generosity of people." As Justin & Jennifer stepped onto the mat in fourth place, another team they shared the bus to Bangkok with had difficulties getting to the Pit Stop. Professional snowboarders Andy & Tommy went to a school for help, but the teacher walked away with their clue and began teaching a class. Eventually the pair got their clue back, but not after wasting precious minutes nervously waiting. In the end, the snowboarders recovered to end the day in fifth place, just moments ahead of father and son adventurers Laurence & Six who finished in sixth place. In addition, Phil informed Laurence & Zac that first class travel only applied to airplanes, so they could have stayed on the bus they initially planned on taking to Bangkok. On their close call with elimination, Laurence said, "One slip up can cost you the race."

END OF THE ROAD

With Liz & Marie feeding the fish and getting another free taxi ride to Pit Stop, dating couple Jeremy & Sandy got bad information to walk to the Pit Stop instead of taking a taxi. After wandering around the streets of Bangkok, the dating couple asked a taxi driver who told them the heritage home was far away. Jumping into the taxi, Sandy lamented, "We lost a lot of time today. We could be dead last. If this is the end for us, I'm very proud of Jeremy." Before reaching the Pit Stop, Sandy added, "I wanted to make it farther along than this." She got her wish as she and Jeremy stepped on the mat in seventh place where a thankful Sandy broke down in tears. Arriving at the M.R. Kukrit Heritage Home in last place, twins Liz & Marie received the bad news from Phil that they had been eliminated from the race. On the mat, the twins cried thinking about their father who recently passed away. Later, Marie said, "We think about our dad every day, every second. I think he would have been proud of us. He'd probably be like, ‘I can't believe you guys did that.' And he'd be like, ‘Now no one can take this away from you.'" Roadblock: A Roadblock is a task that only one team member performs. In this Roadblock, one team member had to listen to and follow the sounds of a traditional Thai flautist that would lead them to a waterfall. Once there, they had to search the remote pool beneath the waterfall to find their next clue.