The Amazing Race 2010 Episode Eight Recap

Six teams left St. Petersburg, Russia on the Amazing Race to fly to Oman in the Middle East. Nat and Kat got to leave first, since they came in first last week. They left Peter and Paul Fortress to fly to Muscat, Oman. All of the teams talk about their motivations and challenges on the race. Nat has diabetes and has had to plan carefully to run the Amazing Race without getting sick. Claire's motivation is not wanting to disappoint Brooke. Mallory is thrilled to spend time alone with her dad and not have to compete with her siblings for his attention. Thomas wants he and Jill to make less mistakes and Jill wants to get back in The Amazing Race and do well. Nick is stressed out all the time. Chad and Stephanie, meanwhile, are nowhere to be seen as they sleep right through their departure time.

At the airport, Jill and Thomas and Nat and Kat get on the first flight, with three other teams trailing almost two hours behind. Chad and Stephanie don't show up for two hours past their departure time, but manage to snag a flight getting them almost even with the second flight out.

Arriving in hot, humid Oman, teams take taxis to find a man with ingots, carved with times they will be allowed to climb up to the top of the Nizwa Fort and get their next clues. While they wait, Chad asks Stephanie to walk with him. On the dock, he tells her how he can't imagine spending his life with anyone but her, and drops to one knee to offer her the ring his mother wore before she recently passed away. She says yes, and the other teams, who see the proposal take place, congratulate them.

The Amazing Race teams climb to the top of the fort, and receive a clue to drive themselves to Jebel Shams, the tallest mountain in Oman, where they will be met at the base by a driver to take them to the top. There one team member must rappel 500 feet down the 10,000 foot mountain to a ledge, where he or she must search amongst many scattered lamps for one with Aladdin's magic ring. They then must take this to a man sitting on an oriental rug, and he will give them the next clue.

Chad and Stephanie and Jill and Thomas, after asking directions, find the spot fairly quickly. Other teams, though, have a great deal of trouble. Nick yells at Vicki for always giving so much information to other teams, and Mallory and Gary get hopelessly lost. At the mountain, Chad agrees to rappel down, but, as Stephanie says, it is "the Grand Canyon of Oman," and very intimidating. Jill agrees to "add a little magic to her life," as does Vicki, who says she's only afraid of bugs, and proceeds to rappel down like Spiderman. Claire, who always does the hard jobs, volunteers to do this one as well. After Vicki does so well, they discover their vehicle has a flat, and Nick has to fix it before they can leave. Grumbling, he does so.

The clue directs the teams to a large stack of books in the middle of a roundabout in the city of Nizwa. Scrambling up this stack of books, they find a Detour. They must choose between Water Table or Wedding Table. In Wedding Table, they must buy the ingredients, such as 25 chickens, to make a customary wedding dish, cook it and deliver it to a wedding party before they can receive their next clue. All of the teams choose Water Table. In Water Table, teams must pump water from an ancient well and deliver it to designated houses.

The teams find the spot with the trucks, start a pump with a pull cord, fill the truck with a hose and direct a driver to the house as best they can. However, Jill and Thomas catch a break when it turns out that their driver is a cousin of the person they are delivering water to.

Next teams must go to Muttrah Souq, a bustling market in Nizwa, and find a booth selling frankincense. The merchant directs them to take it to Ali Baba in the souq. Nick misunderstands and keeps repeating, "Alli Baba in a suit?" The clue they retrieve here directs them to Al Alam Palace, which is the pit stop. Jill and Thomas head there first, with Chad and Stephanie close behind them.

Jill and Thomas actually arrive first, but incur a thirty minute penalty because they paid a cab driver to lead them to a destination, which is against the Amazing Race rules. So Chad and Stephanie, the newly engaged couple who overslept and started out two hours late, end up coming in first place and winning a trip to Belize, for a five night stay at Victoria Hotel. Jill and Thomas come in second place after their penalty, and Nick and Vicki come in third. Brooke and Claire have a little trouble in traffic, going the wrong way and bringing the police down on them, not to mention causing a traffic jam, but they still manage to arrive fourth, and are ecstatic. Gary and Mallory thought they were much further behind than they are, but after a race to the finish, Nat and Kat still beat them in at fifth and last place.

Gary and Mallory come in last and are eliminated from the race. They talk about how special their trip has been, and Mallory says she learned from her Dad to keep going after your dreams and live your life full out, like it is a race.

Tune in next week on The Amazing Race when the five remaining teams go to Bangladesh and experience a double U-turn for the first time in Amazing Race history.

Source: Personal Experience watching The Amazing Race on CBS