After their rest period in Mumbai, India, the four remaining teams began on one of their longest journeys yet.  For the 9th leg of The Amazing Race, the competitors were flying approximately 4,000 miles away to Osaka, Japan.

TK and Rachel – the first to reach the last pit stop – decided to get help at a nearby hotel before heading to the airport.  Through a travel desk, they got what they believed to be the earliest flight out.  The hippies were scheduled to leave at 6:55 PM flight out of India.  Christina and Ronald also made reservations beforehand, but did their work through a different agency.  The route they secured had them taking off at 8:30 PM.  Although Nicolas/Donald and Nate/Jennifer both chose to get tickets at the airport, they wound up on the same flight as the father/daughter duo.

Because TK and Rachel had differing departure plans, they never encountered their competitors at the airport.  Needless to say, this made the other teams quite uneasy.  They weren’t sure whether the couple had done something very smart or very stupid.  Unfortunately the viewers at home were left clueless as well.  The producers of the show smartly withheld the arrival times for all the racers.  All we knew was that the hippies were leaving 1.5 hours ahead of the pack; we also found out they also were making a stop in one extra city.  Nic/Donald, Jen/Nate, Christina/Ronald were heading to Osaka via Hong Kong while TK/Rachel were reaching Japan via New Dehli and Beijing.  In the end, the teams with the later departure were actually the first ones to arrive. 

Once they had reached the airport, the racers had to now taxi to Kishiwada castle to find their next clue.  After an extensive search of the grounds – and a tiring stair climb for Donald – the teams were then instructed to taxi to Noda Station.  A cleaning man found there would hand them their next clue.

All three teams had a fairly even start with their next Road Block.  In this challenge, one person from each duo had to become a Japanese taxi driver.  In addition to navigating the busy, confusing streets while driving on the wrong side of the road, they had to figure out instructions written in Japanese.  They could not bring along a helper during their journey nor could they ask the couple they were transporting for help.  After making a 5-mile trek, they then had to make it back to their partner before reading the next clue.

Without knowing what the entire task would entail, Ronald suggested that Christina be the one to perform it.  Since his daughter had spent 6 months in the country learning the language, he thought she would be the best person for the job.  Unfortunately, once they realized it was a driving challenge, they were a bit concerned.  Christina – a huge fan of public transportation - apparently wasn’t known for her skills behind the wheel.  (Luckily, she didn’t have to worry about her father yelling at her from the back seat.)

LESSON OF THE DAY:  DON’T JUST LEARN HOW TO DRIVE STICK BEFORE ENTERING THE RACE, LEARN HOW TO DRIVE.  PERIOD.

Regardless of skill or knowledge of the language, this task proved to be difficult for all involved.  Although Nicolas thought his experience driving around in Ireland would help him, navigating the one-way streets was terribly frustrating.  Meanwhile, Christina and Jen both found it necessary to stop and ask for directions to the Post Office. 

Surprisingly, The Girl Most Likely to Freak Out (a.k.a. Jennifer) was the first one to make it back to Noda Station.  Christina came in a close second while Nicolas (“I Know How to Drive On the Wrong Side of the Street”) lagged another 10 minutes behind.  After picking up their partners, the three teams had to then travel by taxi to the Kita-mido temple.  There they would find the next clue box.

It was now Detour time.  For this challenge, the duos had to choose between Sense of Smell or Sense of Touch.  In ‘Smell’, the racers – without using their hands – had to sniff their way through a floral shop specializing in artificial stems for one of the few real flowers.  In ‘Touch’, the groups had to play a game of robot soccer.  Using cell phones to maneuver their two robots, each competitor had to score one goal against an opposing team before moving on.

Wanting to be at the closest Detour location, Jen and Nate chose the smelly option.  Thankfully, Jen had the ‘nose of the bloodhound’ because the store was gigantic.  Christina and Ronald – who also chose the sniffing challenge – arrived shortly after the lovebirds.  Not wanting to retrace the first team’s steps, father and daughter strategically decided to begin on the 2nd floor of the flower shop.

After an exhaustive search, Jen was the first to detect a fragrance.  Since they were separated from their competitors at this point, Nate/Jen were able to sneak out of the store without being detected.  Christina and Ronald made their own discovery a short time later.  Not knowing where Nate and Jen were at this point, they had no clue as to what their status was in the game.  For all they knew, the other team had already given up and moved on to the other task.

While the other groups were getting high of no smells, Nicolas and Donald were putting their fingers to the test.  The grandfather/grandson team was doing their best to score in the soccer challenge.  Unfortunately Donald (who doesn’t even own a computer) was having a hard time grasping the remote-controlled concepts.  After many wrong turns and falls, Nicolas was able to guide the 69-year-old to a goal.

Back outside the floral market, Jen and Nate – on the verge of their very first victory – were having another difficult time securing a cab.  (Anyone remember their failure to get a ride because they were wet?)  All they had to do at this point was make it to Tempozan Park for their final pit stop.  Unfortunately, the drivers either didn’t seem to know where the place was or had a difficult time understanding the two Americans.  Fortunately, they found a local who was willing to help translate their instructions to a cabbie.  Meanwhile, Christina and Ronald – who had a much easier time finding a ride – had their patience tested when their driver stopped to ask for directions.

Remarkably, this was the calmest race the father/daughter team ever had; there were no major arguments between the two.  This change of pace may have been why they managed to rack up the come-from-behind win.  Unfortunately, this meant Nate and Jen had to (once again) settle for 2nd place.  Nicolas and Donald came in third.

But wait!  Let’s not forget about the Hippies!  Although TK and Rachel were initially uncertain about their status in the race, they quickly figured it out.  Wanting to end the competition in a dignified manner, they cheerfully completed their tasks anyway.  Little did they know Phil had a surprise waiting for them at the mat:  it was another non-elimination round!

Even though this means the team will face a Speed Bump in addition to a three hour delay in the next leg, I wouldn’t be so quick to cast them out of the race just yet.  All it takes is one closed office or late flight to put everyone on equal footing again.

(You can review last week’s episode here.)
(You can find the next episode here.)