by  Arthur Perkins
 
This episode stayed in the cities of New Delhi and Old Delhi, India area; no tasks were outside those cities. Being transported around with a variety of taxis, pedicabs, and auto-rickshaws provided plenty of drama and difficulties for the teams. As in other Asian countries, transportation sources have some tendency to take your trip even if he (I have yet to see a she doing this in the entirety of 13 Amazing Race seasons) doesn't know where it is. He assumes that by asking someone along the way they will get there. That's true, they do get here but sometimes at a cost of precious time vs. the transportation source who really does know where it is.   The problem is that it is impossible to tell the difference between the two types. Such is the central problem of navigating around last Asian cities. The real winner of this episode was Delhi area transportation systems.
 
Teams were released from the pitstop at the following times:
 
Nick/Starr 8:55am
Kelly/Christy 9:02
Toni/Dallas 9:10
Terence/Sarah 9:31
Andrew/Dan 9:44
Ken/Tina 9:51
 
The first clue sends teams to an apartment complex central park area where some wild activities are visibly underway. It is the celebration of Holi, the festival of colors and a major Hindu holiday which does not occur in May when this episode was filmed; it is actually celebrated in February or March. Amazing Race 13 is actually staging this event for the benefit of a more interesting episode, which they definitely achieved because it is the most memorable task of all Amazing Race 13.  Brilliant dry colors for creating raining and inescapable clouds of color are often thrown directly at passersby. Bright coloured waters, water balloons, lavish gujiyas(an almond/sugar treat) and melodious songs are the ingredients of perfect Holi. To further enhance the festive spirit of Holi celebrations we have a social sanction to get a kick with bhang. Bhang is a derivative of the leaf and flower of a female Cannabis sativa plant. It is used for making beverages and sometimes is smoked.  Then there is total wildness as people dance to the rhythm of dholak and sing traditional folk songs in loudest possible pitch. Children particularly enjoy the festival as they throw water filled balloons at passersby. They have their water missiles, called pichkaris, to drench the person from afar and escape further drenching to themselves.  This is one fabulous reoadblock!
 
This clue is a Roadblock for one team member to enter the compound, walk(or run) to a rotating set of holders reachable only by climbing a ladder. The holders have one good clue and all the rest TRY AGAIN. There are only 6 clues in total at 6 stations. The filming does not indicate whether there are more than one at any station. I think not, so this is a task where the probability of all teams doing well is same if they do not get sidetracked. Starr takes it and does fine. Kelly takes it and has major problems, so serious that she claimed she would "seriously die" if she had to continue. Of course after the commercial break, she does continue as you know she must. She does not finish until her 5th try, which puts them in last place by that time. Dallas takes it and does fine. Terence has minor problems with colors in his mouth and nasal passages, but it does not appear to slow them up much. Dan took it and did OK. Tina was slowed up a bit, but she got it done.
 
The next clue sends teams to a bird hospital in a Jain temple in Old Delhi. It is only a task to extend the episode by sending team elsewhere. All teams appear to find the next clue quickly, except Terence and Sarah search onto the litter box when that wasn't necessary (but they did not know that). Ken and Tina received their speed bump first, which takes them to a nearby temple to give out glasses of Holy Water (for drinking) to anyone who wants one, which is maybe around 200 (the editing only showed one individual refusing it). My guess is that it took about 30 minutes to get to the temple, complete that task and then from the temple. Ken and Tina are last leaving the bird hospital.
 
Next is the DETOUR. Terence/Sarah were the only team to select TEARY-EYED. This was transporting a two 40 pound chili pepper bags  on foot for 1/4 mile, then pounding them as finely as possible. This resulted in severe respiratory problems for Terence in particular, as forecast by Phil who had first-hand experience with those peppers. However, they persevered after being instructed to keep grinding to make the pepper segments finer and demonstrated the wisdom of taking a predictable task. The alternate was BLURRY-EYED, which involved walking down a street Nai Sarak and spotting then recording the numbers of  small numbered tags on the complex of electric wiring (a total mess unthinkable under American standards). The trick was to spot each and every number, which proved to be quite difficult. Nick and Starr took a pass, but did not succeed. As they were about to try again, Toni and Dallas arrived where they were. the two teams agreed to work together, which was a successful short-term alliance. Those teams finished together and took the clue for the pitstop. Andrew/Dan arrived next and were fairly clueless. Kelly/Christy arrived. Both teams messed up 3 passes when Andrew/Dan made an offer of a short-term alliance to get this task finished. Christy turned them down although it appeared that Kelly favored it. So, back to the drawing boards with both team ready to make another pass. While all that was happening, Ken/Tina made a successful first pass and ran into Andrew/Dan. They offered the secrets (look for the small tags) and demonstrated how to do it right, with Tina telling Andrew/Dan that they owed them if they survived this leg. Kelly/Christy got no such advice and finally solved it themselves. All teams had gotten the final clue to the pistop at Humuyan's Tomb.
 
The arrival at the pitstop mirrored the finish of the detours. Nick/Starr beat Toni/Dallas in the taxi ride competition for first place. They won a vacation for 2 from Travelocity to Kauai, including a Na Pali cost trip and some additional inclusions. Terence/Sarah easily got third. Ken/Tina demonstrated what a good team they are by not only recovering from essentially a 30 minute penalty but also by getting IOUs from helping Andrew/Dan. Andrew/Dan were inept and feeble once more. This is going to catch up with them, but they have squeaked through multiple times. Kelly/Christy were last and eliminated. Those women were tough competitors, but I just didn't care for them and their style. I glad they will confine their future impact on this race to maybe running DECOY for the final and maybe talking to the other eliminees by phone on an Elimination Station segment.