Man Oman! - 
by B-side
After dozens of episodes in glossy Europe, The Amazing Race finally trekked into the Third World -- er, developing nation -- as it headed to wonderful Oman, not to be confused with Iman. This was a big deal because for the first time, I believe, the show had ventured into the heart of the Middle East. Granted, it was no Iraq, but the mere presence of so many mosques and Muslims was probably enough to send the Red States into panic mode. Fear not, people. The terrorists have not won. You really think Phil Keoghan would go down without a fight? Unfortunately, we didn't get a huge glimpse into the world of Oman, but we were able to make some interesting observations. 1) The cities are very clean. 2) Some of the rural roads have a few flooding problems. 3) Some of the rural roads are really confusing. 4) Some of the rural roads aren't roads at all. 5) It's really hot. 6) McDonald's really is EVERYWHERE.
Before we got to the Middle East, however, we still had some loose ends to tie up in Greece. We began the episode at the Fortress of Rion, which served as the Pit Stop on the last leg of the race. First out of the gate were Jeremy and Eric who happily learned they'd be flying to Muscat, Oman where they'd have to find a giant incense burner for their next clue. They seemed quite delighted, probably because the promise of incense meant that they'd no longer have to smell the stink of their Hippie allies.
As the two frat boys galloped off to a visitor center on a nearby bridge (where they were to sign up for a charter bus to the airport), Jeremy indulged his ego a bit by saying, "I think the other teams are used to tasting our dust. They probably have mud in their mouths by now." I'm not sure it was mud, but after seeing these photos, I'm sure something was in their mouths.
Anyway, the two lovably buffoons arrived at the visitor center, but guess what? It didn't open until morning. Another shocking development! Fast forward a few hours, and we then found Jeric signing up for the first charter bus at 9 AM. Meanwhile, Team Mojo left the Pit Stop next, and true to form, we then saw the two talking to the camera while sitting on top of each other. Seriously -- could they try separate seats? Just once? Oh wait. Never mind. I forgot that Monica doesn't know how to operate a chair. (She always falls off and cries.)
Ray and Yolanda were next out of the gate, and even though there was a GIANT suspension bridge in front of them, they weren't quite sure if it was the same bridge that the clue had directed them to. Exactly what other bridge could it be? It's not there was a Japanese Tea Garden nearby with like twelve dainty foot bridges spanning a koi pond. And if there was, my bad. Anyway, the couple hiked over to the suspension bridge, and somewhere along the way, things went sour. You see, they were having some jokey banter, but apparently, that's all they do, and amidst this, Ray, I guess, crossed the line. Next thing we (and Ray) knew, Yolanda was telling her man to stop cussing. Granted, she wasn't being very nasty about it. She was fairly direct and even-keeled, but that didn't stop Ray from giving her the finger behind her back. WELL. Turns out that Yolanda has eyes in the back of her head, and she caught him shooting her the bird. That did not make her happy, and justifiably so. Yolanda snipped at Ray again, and let's just say, he's no Nerd. Whereas Dave probably would have suddenly sobbed in Lori's arms, Ray simply rolled his eyes, mumbled something, and eventually said, "Just remember, I'm a grown man." Oh, and by the way, I had no idea what these two were fighting over.
Well, bickering aside, Raylonda (as well as Mojo) wound up on the 9 AM bus with Jeric, and back at the Pit Stop, our favorite elders, Fran and Barry, were discovering that they'd be flying to Oman, or as they called it, "Omen." With the sun rising, the two ran off to the visitors center and also wound up on the 9 AM bus. Okay, basically everyone wound up on the bus except the Hippies. Yes, BJ and Tyler just barely missed it, which kind of sucked for them as they were then stuck on the 10 AM bus. On the plus side, this meant they'd have to stand out in the rain longer, and I think we can all agree that they could use a fresh rinsing.
Over at the airport, Frankenberry found some information about a flight to Oman, but being the tough cookies that they are, they refused to help anyone out. "WE WILL NOT SHARE THIS INFORMATION," Barry said, sounding quite a bit like Hal the Robot. Or a male Julie Chen. Nevertheless, despite their attempts at secrecy, Fran and Barry's blatant running through the terminal gave everyone a heads up as to where to go, and soon everyone was clamoring for tickets at the Gulf Air ticket counter. "I'm already sweating," Barry then said. I'm sure that sweater he had on under his shirt wasn't helping...
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