Having the racers back into the race, speedstering through new worlds with no time to stop to breathe was totally excellent.
The best was them leaving Botswana, going "Oooh India" at the prospect, not realising the killer fest that was
so guaranteed to be awaiting them.
The infuence of the hustle and bustle of India meant that despite having had a good rest and doing two fairly simple Roadblock and Detour tasks they juicily ended up more exhausted than we've ever seen before. They also unbelievably wore anoraks through it all.
At one point I was feeling crazed with desperation at how Amber refused to take hers off. There's nothing I can't stand more than being hot and I just don't see how she could not have been boiling.
It’s a groovy anorak but still, the weather looked very humid and sunny, mixed with my imagination of what India's definitely like.
How cool is the Taj Mahal? Rob was divine saying he'd build one twice the size for her - made fabber by the fact that he could really do it in a muscly, sweaty torso being a rich builder. Funny how men see size as being such a hugely important factor when it comes to demonstrating their love.
… the only sucky thing about the Taj Mahal is... I was lost in thought thinking about what it would be like to have such a place built for me and the horrible part would be knowing how many peeps had to basically slaughter themselves slaving for it while I sat drinking tea - or whatever they did. I don't like that part - but the rest I do, espesh with how smoochy it made everyone.
In and around them putting those scarf things on, each couple - except Gretchen to her tortoise - were really sweet to each other. Even Ron and Kelly managed to exchange a few decent words and Joyce and Uchenna reached some sort of ultra lurve muscle.
The way they kept telling one another how special they are made me really happy – this new thing they’ve found must have something to do with the sky over Africa being bigger than Texas.
They were much more truly in tune with one another than they've been before and were uplifting to watch through everything they did. In fact I can't remember one moment of them doing anything where they weren't laughing and generally bouncing.
Unlike Meredith and Gretchen, who seem to be slipping into an ever-darkening hell as a direct result of Gretchen's constant negative thinking.
She needed such a throttle at the Roadblock trying to find the clue in the metal boxes. It was in the biggest, most obvious "let's hide it here for fun" box out of all the thousands of them and yet it was the very last one she looked in!
Also, the way she searched had no order to it whatsoever, and she lied. She said she'd gone through all of them, which was just rubbish.
As a result I was very pleased that the two of them got so hounded for the extra moolah at the train station and that Gretchen found a bag. Despite the fact that she annoys me so much she is a chick who found a bag and for that there's just no ways I can't be pleased.
How hysterical were the prices of things at the airport? It's soo pathetic how they insist on ripping you off just because you've got nowhere else to shop.
Did you know that it's impossible to get new undies at a South African airport? I had a friend who got stuck at the airport overnight once and she couldn't find one item of underwear anywhere.
The rucksack Gretchen could afford was very crap but still - it does the trick and the dude who cheated her with her tea was super, particularly if he really did pretend to be their contact simply because he was thirsty.
The office block they Detoured through was fascinating wasn't it? Everyone was an accountant and did business type things and yet there wasn't one computer nor any other type of machine anywhere.
Also, the random furnishings and the way it was all laid out was whacked. It's like it's impossible to picture what exactly the furniture looked like and yet they were all definitely sitting at what could have been long trestle desks.
There was a definite lack of chicks working there I noticed, no-one really seemed to be doing anything much and the mood wasn't of people madly adding up millions of bucks.
They could have been influenced by knowing the racers were there - like the rent-a-crowd who were defs not rented when they asked Meredith and Gretchen for their signature.
I was chuckling away hysterically at how ridiculous it was that they'd want their signatures until I realised what it means that they did. How welcoming they were and how much they seemed to need the excitement of it and didn't mind that it came from the ultimate slow-pokes.
I imagine that news of the film crew and racers being around spread and that everyone made their way there, bustlingly chatting as they went. It's very weirdy that India is supposed to be so Zen and how it contrasts with the sense of frantic that brims beneath the surface of it. This must be the impact of people being so poor - the line between surviving and starving is such a fine one.
It affected each of the racers in different ways: Gretchen got wide-eyed and more shrill, Lynn and Alex got quiet and forgot to be bitchy, Uchenna helped the rickshaw go faster by using his leg as an extra wheel, Kelly wanted to catch a non-existent taxi and Rob tried too hard. For the first time since the race started he told Amber to move-it in tones that hinted at desperation.
It's always been as if luck will just automatically be with them and they can cruise, but India's changed this.
The fact that everyone isn't getting to a pitstop but rather need to hurry, hurry, hurry off again is absolutely purfect for where they are. Imagining how hectic next week's action is gonna be makes me feel trippily breathless and delighted by the idea that it's them instead of me.
I reckon it'll turn into a sweat-fest of very serious racing next with the impact of India seeping into their tired, parched bones as they forget about everything except getting to the end of the double whammy.
I'm hoping for casualities of the most epic proportions.