by David McAlpine

 

Last time on The Amazing Race, the teams traveled around Vietnam, breaking VCRs and carting almost life-size animal statues around a park. In the end, a bad decision at the detour cost Marcy and Ron, the oldest couple in the competition, the race.

 

The next stop for the teams is Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia (or “Sean Penn,” as Zev and Justin call it). Of course, the next flight doesn’t leave until the afternoon of the next day, so everyone ended up on that flight except Zev and Justin and Lance and Keri, who ended up on another flight two hours later.

 

They all head to the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, where they have to ask their editor for their next assignment (so clever on The Amazing Race’s part, right?). Unfortunately for most teams, they’re given a black and white picture of a woman and are told to find a suite named after her in Cambodia. Now, I would imagine most people would be able to recognize Jacqueline Kennedy, but not many of the teams could. Canaan even thought she might be Queen Elizabeth.

 

At the Hotel Royal, where the same picture hangs in much bigger form, teams encountered a detour: cover or wrap. In “cover,” teams had to sell four motorcycle helmets to a family of four. In “wrap, teams had to go the nearby Russian Market, then find a scarf seller who was wearing the scarf that matched the one each team had. Personally, I would have gone for “cover,” just because I’m not down with the whole running through small, dark, crowded corridors looking for a needle in a haystack. Interestingly enough, only Lance and Keri agreed with me, because everyone else chose “wrap.”

 

The next clue directed teams to Wat Tul Tom Pong and a roadblock. At this task, one member of each team had to act like a monkey—literally. Since Cambodians revere monkeys, apparently the rich and royal hire actors to portray monkeys. Once the team members had performed three monkey moves successfully, they were given the next clue. At this point, Zev and Justin and Sam and Dan are in a dead heat for first place, but Sam and Dan finish first, pulling ahead.

 

After that, it was time to head to the pit stop: Wat Phnom, a huge Buddhist temple. Zev and Justin arrive first—but without one of their passports. According to race rules, apparently, if you lose your passport, you have to go back and find it before you can check in. Since they’ve traveled so much in Phnom Penh, it almost seemed like a lost cause to me, but they push on, anyway. They even grabbed their taxi driver’s business card, so maybe they’ll get lucky. So, instead, Sam and Dan are awarded first place. The teams finished as follows:

 

1st: Sam and Dan

2nd: Flight Time and Big Easy

3rd: Brian and Ericka

4th: Gary and Matt

5th: Meghan and Cheyne

6th: Lance and Keri

7th: Mika and Canaan

 

Will Zev and Justin find Zev’s passport in time to beat Tiffany and Maria? As one could guess, they don’t, as Maria and Tiffany check in before they can even find the passport. Thus, in a stunning turn of events, Zev and Justin are eliminated. It’s so sad to see them go, because I think a lot of people enjoy the two on the race, but there always has to be someone that goes because of a technicality.

 

Tune in to CBS on Sunday at 8/7c to see what happens on the next leg of The Amazing Race 15!

 

(Photo courtesy of CBS)

 

For more The Amazing Race Links visit Sirlinksalot.net