The Amazing Race: Damn you, Mongolians!

For being so... helpful! Because if you learn nothing else from this episode, at least take this lesson away - Mongolians are very friendly. They provide directions, help fix cars, change flats, and find helmets. If it weren't for the friendly locals, a lot of teams would be roaming around with the nomads right now. But we'll get to that.

Phil throws the teams out of the nice, warm pit stop and tells them to go to Ulaanbaatar (hey, that's how they spell it), Mongolia. After visiting a temple, they're told to drive themselves to a national park, where they'll put on those big, furry Mongolian hats and ride horses to the Detour. This is where tonight's theme of Car Trouble starts to come into play, because Tyler and James get a flat, and either their jack doesn't work, or, what I believe is more likely, they just don't know how to use it. A friendly Mongolian helps them.

Detour: either take apart a traditional nomad dwelling (ger, pictured) or take an ox-like animal down to the river and get some water. Peter and Sarah have serious problems, starting out with the ger and then switching to the water when they get frustrated. But their ox-like thing turns out to be broken, so they have to go back to the ger. They have a complete meltdown (broken oxen will do that to you), which is not helped by the fact that Peter addresses Sarah like she's a golden retriever, clapping at her and barking "encouragement." She finally has to tell him to stop lecturing. Dustin and Kandice fare only slightly better; one of them (Kandice?) gets dragged by her horse for a few moments, and then they lose one of their fuzzy Mongolian hats, which they need to leave. When they can't find it, they end up wandering around aimlessly. Luckily for them, a friendly Mongolian helps them.

Leaving the Detour, Lyn and Karlyn, Erwin and Godwin, and Kellie and Jamie all have car trouble. Friendly Mongolians help them.

With all the problems the teams are having, we don't even get to the Roadblock until the 45-minute mark. At the Hotel Mongolia (such a lovely place), teams have to shoot a flaming arrow and ignite a target. Cool! Once they've done it, they can run up to Phil at the mat. Peter and Sarah eventually work through their issues and are first, while last place comes down to Lyn and Karlyn and Kellie and Jamie. Both teams get lost, but the cheerleaders get more lost, so they're eliminated.

Meanwhile this episode: teams make friends with each other, with David and Mary leading the way; Rob and Kimberly continue to fight; Duke and Lauren continue to be really cool with each other; and Sarah dances for a crowd. That can't be good for the leaky knee.