Andy and Tommy started the fifth leg of The Amazing Race 19 from Phuket Thailand with almost an hour lead over the second place team, Justin and Jennifer and a 3.5 hour lead on eight place Liz and Marie.  Their first task was to make their way to a local form of transportation: elephant.  The elephant would bring them to their next clue, the first of two Roadblock’s for this leg of the race.

For the first Roadblock the selected team member had to follow the sound of a traditional Thai flute to a water pool and search the pool for their next clue.  Upon finding the ceramic fish in the water, the clue would be revealed by smashing the fish open.  The teams were sent to a Buddhist temple for their next clue.

At the temple the teams were instructed to disassemble a spirit house and deliver the spirit house to another nearby temple.  Once at the second temple the teams were surprised to find a second Roadblock for the leg with the instructions that whomever did not participate in the first Roadblock had to do this one.

The other wrinkle for the Roadblock was that the team member forced to do the challenge had to reassemble the intricate spirit temple exactly as they found it.  Most teams were savvy enough to take notes or draw a diagram of the temple before they disassembled it.   Andy and Tommy and Laurence and Zac, however, did not remember enough of it on their own and had to go back to the original temple to refresh their memories.

The leg really got going with the teams’ next instructions: take a bus over 500 miles to Bangkok.  Three of the four leading teams were able to get a second class bus departing at 4:30.  Laurence and Zac found an express, first class bus also departing at the same time.  Less than 15 minutes in to the trip, however, the father/son duo panicked about taking first class transportation, something not allowed when flying.  Fearing another penalty, the pair disembarked and ran back to the bus station.

The gaff would push Laurence and Zac back to an 8:00pm bus, behind Amani and Marcus, Bill and Cathi and Ernie and Cindy who all departed at 5:30pm.  Similar to Laurence and Zac, Ernie and Cindy also found a first class bus, but did not get off, knowing that the first class rule only applies to flights.  The first class bus easily made up the hour difference between them and the leading teams and got them to Bangkok first.

Once in Bangkok the teams had to make their way to a river bank, feed the fish and then to the Pit Stop.  Although the instructions were simple, getting to the two places from the bus station proved very difficult in the Bangkok traffic.  Ernie and Cindy fed the fish first, but got frustrated sitting in traffic en route to the Pit Stop and got out and walked.   This mistake gave Amani and Marcus an unlikely first place finish.

At the back of the pack Laurence and Zac were able to pass Jeremy and Sandy for a sixth place finish, just behind Andy and Tommy.  Jeremy and Sandy also choose to travel on foot to the Pit Stop, got lost and figured they would be eliminated.  But, Liz and Marie, stifled by the Speed Bump and having no money, were well behind and Sandy broke down in tears upon hearing Phil’s good news.  For the twins, the last place finish eliminated them from the race.