S34.E05: The Amazing Race of Arabia

[Whimsy]

Quote

For the first time, teams travel to the Kingdom of Jordan where they ride a train, experience a scene reminiscent of the film “Lawrence of Arabia,” search the Wadi Rum desert, and visit the ancient city of Petra.

Original airdate 10/19/22

[GenerationX]

Great shots of Jordan!  The desert and the city looked beautiful.

A couple of good strategies in the metal detector roadblock (leaving footprints, avoiding footprinted areas, running), which were much more effective than slow, random swinging.

A slide puzzle in the Detour?  Is TAR borrowing challenge designers from Survivor?

[toodywoody]

Puppies, camel, Petra, train, reacting a scene from a movie and a puzzle. The heat would be absolutely draining.  I was happy for Linton and glad his daughter was actually happier this episode. Was happy the order got all mixed up. Phil is amazing and the one man who was giving out the first clues was great.

[QuantumMechanic]

Gorgeous scenery!

But a very boring leg. Only a roadblock and a detour?? And all three possible tasks were total yawners. They may have scrambled placement but were so boring to watch.

Edited October 20, 2022 by QuantumMechanic

[aradia22]

I don't know if it was in comparison to the Megaleg or if they just wanted to get in and out of Jordan quickly but this leg felt super easy. The "Petra" clues didn't seem to be buried that deep. If you picked the puzzle, it didn't seem to be a huge challenge. The worst parts seemed to be the heat and the running around. And everyone still seemed to finish around the same time. 

I found it funny that everyone kept saying the location was like something "out of a movie" but they couldn't name a single movie. I wonder if that was a producer prompt. 

It was interesting that they didn't block off areas for each person to search. There really was a big incentive to find the clue ASAP because the search got harder with fewer clues available. I did find it funny when they were eventually finding cans and other junk in the sand. 

I love that the two sibling teams (Military Brothers and Twins) were the only two teams shown wearing their masks CORRECTLY in the car the whole time. They only seemed to take them off when they were outside. 

Why did Sharik skip the Roadblock??? Come on now. There's no way you get anxiety using a metal detector. And you don't get to volunteer your dad for a task and then complain the whole time about how he's doing it. "I just would've done this so much better." Girl, why are you making it so hard to like you?

Marcus and Michael made the big mistake of so many athletic teams in always picking the physical challenge. I know TAR has presented tough puzzles in the past but I hope they didn't wear themselves out too bad just to avoid a slide puzzle. I like them and even if they don't win, I don't want them to burn themselves out early. Also, I appreciated that they seemed like the only team to learn "thank you" in the native language.

I am growing increasingly unamused by Derek. The woos from him and Abby were a little more annoying with nothing else going on. And he had no sympathy for Claire, joking after she fell. Speaking of injuries, is there a system if they need medical attention? Can someone figure out what's going on with the twin's leg before they leave for the next destination? Will someone patch up Claire? Or do they have to figure that stuff out on their own time?

A positive about Glenda and Lumumba is that while they bicker a little, they seem to get over it very quickly.

I appreciated that two teams chose Camel Caravan so I could see camels and puppies on this leg. 

I'm neutral about Luis and Michelle winning. It's nice to be surprised by shakeups in placement but I'm not actively rooting for them. 

[Skooma]

I always wanted TAR to go to Petra and am so glad they finally managed it.  Definitely a great wonder of the world.  Awesome!

Correction though.  "Lawrence of Arabia" came out in 1962, NOT 1963.  All they had to do is look up a list of Best Picture Oscar winners to know that.  One of the greatest films of all time deserves the facts be right.

Anyway glad that it looks like they stay in Jordan next episode too.

PS:  Loved Short Husband's line about the aliens really liking to drink after he found another beer can, haha.

Edited October 20, 2022 by Skooma

[mertensia]

I would love to see Petra in person. I hope they got to wander the ruins a bit.

Slide puzzles. Ugh. I'm no good at them. 

"Why isn't there something for us to use as a guide?" Ummm.....

[Jodithgrace]

I too thought the tasks seemed very easy, but I think they had to factor in the heat and sun. They really don’t want people collapsing. 

I know that there’s a trick to doing slide puzzles, and if I ever got to be on a show like this or Survivor, I’d learn it. The teams that knew the trick solved it right away. 

I am so glad to see Sharik and her Dad go I can’t believe she wouldn’t do that Roadblock. I don’t think they know what the task is before they decide who does it, but if they were going to last on the race she was going to have to start doing them, whatever the task  And then she just sat there and criticized! Ugh  

My son in law is from Jordan, so it was fun to see it. I told my daughter to watch, but I don’t know if she did  

it was beautiful but looked incredibly hot. That old train was cool, too.  

[Vermicious Knid]

Hey, someplace I've been. What you don't see, because they clear them out during filming, is the line of souvenir sellers off to the left of the Treasury. I walked through the Siq, at the time I was there you could only go through on foot, on a donkey, or on a donkey cart. Now I understand they also have golf carts. They didn't really show the full extent of the site. Camels are vile creatures and they are really lucky no one got spat on. Glad downer Sharik is out. Maybe her dad can come back if they do an all-stars with another partner.

Hopefully they will also be going on to Jerash, one of the best preserved Roman ruins in the world.

[Fretful]

In season 2, a detour had teams searching 1.5 miles of beach in Brazil with a metal detector.   1.5 miles.  (no one chose this detour, as the other detour was hang-gliding).    Man, this race has dummied down.

Quinton really should not have been running around Jordan in that completely open,  side-less shirt.  I noticed that Linton wore leggings under his shorts, and all the other men had knee-length shorts and tee or polo shirts.    

[Lady Calypso]

Wow, I'm glad they went somewhere different, because seeing parts of Jordan was absolutely beautiful.

I also totally get why the challenges were so short this time. It's gotta be very, very hot and you don't want the teams to be out in the sun for that long. I noticed that the two challenges they did were done very quickly (the metal detector task was done within minutes for most teams, and the Puzzle/Caravan task was probably done in half an hour, to take my best guess). So they were all essentially done before the hottest time of the day. 

I laughed when I saw Derek/Claire go from leaving 5th from the metal detector task to being the first to grab the clue box. Even when they're not driving, their navigation skills beat the other teams!

Glad to see Linton/Sharik leaving. Sharik, once again, would not shut up and be pouty and mopey. This is now the show for her, it seems, when she can't stop bemoaning. And I was happy for Luis/Michelle for getting first, especially in a foot race with Derek/Claire.

[aghst]

How did the second group catch up to the first group?  That is where the dancers won the race.  The sisters were right behind the brothers and then they were the second pair to the clue at Petra?

Thought they said 1.5 hour drive too.

Claire talking about how she’s constantly solving puzzles as an AI engineer but the dancers beating her in the puzzle was funny.

Yeah the two tasks were very uneven in how much time it took, especially in that heat.

In the metal detector task, why were they finding junk but the earlier groups didn’t?  Because Linton was looking outside the middle area?

[bunnyface]

Did they tell the teams there would be "bandits" chasing the train?  Because while we knew it was a set-up if they didn't, they'd feel pretty bad about cheering on the people coming to murder them.  

[iMonrey]

Quote

Did they tell the teams there would be "bandits" chasing the train?  Because while we knew it was a set-up if they didn't, they'd feel pretty bad about cheering on the people coming to murder them. 

Yeah, I would have been more alarmed than entertained.

How hot was it anyway? Molly and Emily were in long sleeves and long pants. Or were they wearing some sort of cooling fabric? I would have been sweating like a pig. 

Glad to see Sharik finally go, even if her attitude was much better this leg. She says she played sports in high school, I wonder which ones. Maybe she tried all of them but quit after one game. 

The scenery in Jordan really was spectacular. Seeing all those temples and ruins is like landing on Mars and finding remnants of an ancient civilization or something. The Al-Khazneh template carved into the sandstone rock face has been in every movie, ever. I remember seeing it as far back as in Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977).

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Quote

Did they tell the teams there would be "bandits" chasing the train?  Because while we knew it was a set-up if they didn't, they'd feel pretty bad about cheering on the people coming to murder them. 

Yeah, I would have been more alarmed than entertained.

If there was any initial alarm, I'm sure the crew reassured them pretty quickly.

If I were on the Race (lol as if), I would have been giddy once I found out we were going to Petra and I would have abandoned all tasks to just stare at the carved structures. Seriously, how awesome that they went there.

A little unfortunate that the first task was "lots of sci-fi movies were filmed here, so they're going to do some metal detecting amidst a fake movie set!" but the second half made up for it.

I really wish Abby and Will were getting more screen time 😕 Even Aubrey and David got a bit more attention this week (mostly because they weren't doing well, but still).

[PaperTree]

9 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

How hot was it anyway? Molly and Emily were in long sleeves and long pants. Or were they wearing some sort of cooling fabric? I would have been sweating like a pig. 

I have a friend who grew up in Las Vegas and said she always wore thin long sleeves and pants to keep the sun off your skin.  She's Irish/Polish whiter than white.  Doesn't tan, just burns and peels.

[hjmugillecuty]

I swear that Phil did his movie intro on the cliff that Indy goes over in Last Crusade. Would be very cool if they hunted that out. 

Petra was amazing to see on this show, but like others I'm confused how Derek and Claire managed to catch up with the sibling teams by the time they got there. They started 30 minutes(?) behind them, so Derek's running with the metal detector really did make a difference. 

[Tango64]

I wish this show was on earlier. I don't want to just record it and watch the next day, because then I'm late to the party here. But by 10 pm I'm winding down for the evening and not able to enjoy it as much as I want to. 

Edited October 20, 2022 by Tango64
typo

[Skooma]

17 hours ago, Fretful said:

In season 2, a detour had teams searching 1.5 miles of beach in Brazil with a metal detector.   1.5 miles.  (no one chose this detour, as the other detour was hang-gliding).    Man, this race has dummied down.

Actually Gary & Dave did do the metal detector detour at first until they looked up and saw multiple teams soaring above them so they switched over to the hang gliding too since the metal detector was indeed very hard. Gary even explained how large an area it was and the metal detectors back then were bigger and much heavier too.

And yes the Race has been dumbed down a lot over the years since those Season 2 teams would soon be scrambling to get on various different buses for more than a 12 hour ride and two of the buses broke down along the way where teams had to react to that too including Chris jumping in and helping their driver change a big huge bus tire.

Can you imagine the daughter Sharik in this season dealing with stuff like that?  I mean the so called "mega-leg" this season was only a few hours of one day but back in classic TAR a leg could last anywhere from a full day to up to three days with decisions like should we use the money to eat and sleep outside or should be rent a room and if so where?  Save money on a bus or blow it all on a long cab ride cause a team thinks it is running last but doesn't know for sure.

9 hours ago, PaperTree said:

Enough time spent in the Arab world.  Kids were throwing rocks at our tour bus.

Kids have been known to throw rocks at buses and other vehicles in the U.S. too.  And Morocco isn't Jordan any more than say Russia is England in the "Christian" world.  And not all areas of any country/city are as safe as other areas anyway.

9 hours ago, iMonrey said:

How hot was it anyway? Molly and Emily were in long sleeves and long pants. Or were they wearing some sort of cooling fabric? I would have been sweating like a pig.

The Jordanians all wear long sleeves too.  In super hot areas of the earth you want to cover large areas of your body from the sun.  Not just sunburn but also it is cooler that way to have a protective layer from the direct heat itself on your skin.

Edited October 21, 2022 by Skooma

[Lola82]

I can't imagine how Dom would do in this climate with her hair.

And I feel for Phil having to stand out in the sun waiting for the teams to come to him (obviously he gets breaks in-between).

Overall, the location was awesome but the tasks were disappointing.

[PhoneCop]

Man, this leg would've been the death of me. I'd love to see Petra, but I don't do well in extreme heat and I suck at slide puzzles. Linton could've swept half the desert and still might've beat me to the mat. Phil would have to come do a field elimination, and all he'd find would be my bleached bones face down in the sand.

[eel21788]

4 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Yeah, I would have been more alarmed than entertained.

How hot was it anyway? Molly and Emily were in long sleeves and long pants. Or were they wearing some sort of cooling fabric? I would have been sweating like a pig. 

Sharik was in black yoga pants. If she had been roasting in them, I'm sure we would have heard about how miserable the heat was.

[LilyP]

The brothers and married couple (Can't help but call him Kevin Hart.) are my favorites. I was soooooo glad to see dad and daughter go. I felt bad for dad, but she was so whiney and acted so entitled she was ruinging the show. I like seeing new destinations but I miss the more challenging events, especially the "Eating something gross." one.

[Guest]

23 minutes ago, PhoneCop said:

Man, this leg would've been the death of me. I'd love to see Petra, but I don't do well in extreme heat and I suck at slide puzzles. Linton could've swept half the desert and still might've beat me to the mat. Phil would have to come do a field elimination, and all he'd find would be my bleached bones face down in the sand.

With your race partner off to the side saying "if they had just looked in the middle like everyone else, instead of around the outside, they might not have died 😐"

[aradia22]

Quote

In the metal detector task, why were they finding junk but the earlier groups didn’t?  Because Linton was looking outside the middle area?

I'm pretty sure I remember Lumumba finding those cans in the middle of the search area as well. I can't imagine production digging out a ton of sand to be sure it was clean before hiding the clues. Maybe that was part of the reasoning behind not hiding the clues very deep. 

[Hera]

6 hours ago, aghst said:

How did the second group catch up to the first group?  That is where the dancers won the race.  The sisters were right behind the brothers and then they were the second pair to the clue at Petra?

Yeah, this baffled me as well. My wild guess is that the road they took out of the roadblock was fairly empty and then as they got into Petra, there was traffic that slowed the frontrunner teams down and the drivers took different routes to the clue box.

5 hours ago, PaperTree said:

5 hours ago, iMonrey said:

How hot was it anyway? Molly and Emily were in long sleeves and long pants. Or were they wearing some sort of cooling fabric? I would have been sweating like a pig. 

I have a friend who grew up in Las Vegas and said she always wore thin long sleeves and pants to keep the sun off your skin.  She's Irish/Polish whiter than white.  Doesn't tan, just burns and peels.

I grew up in the central valley of California and I do the same. In dry heat, it's not as uncomfortable as you might think since you don't get as sticky as you do in humid heat.

I'm sorry Linton is gone, but I'm not sorry that Sharik won't be around anymore. She didn't seem to appreciate the experience at all. But it's hard because I don't know who I would like to see go next. Aubrey/David and Abby/Will seem to have had the least screentime of the remaining teams, though Mattie/Quinton weren't shown very much in this and the previous episode. I suppose the story this episode was about how the two sibling teams lost their places at the front of the pack.

[PurpleTentacle]

Apart from the great vistas of Petra, I give this episode a "meh out of 10".

Sharik really made me want to strangle her. Listen here little Missy, you were still down in the roadblock count, so you absolutely could and should have done this one. The only reason why your father had to do this is because you already fall apart when you have to chisel for a bit.

[Yogisbooboo64]

Linton was classy to the end, gonna miss him....but Sharik?  Can take her funky attitude and shove it!

Though I'm not a fan of Luis, I did like that he/Michelle were first place.  

Rooting for the twins, Derek/Claire, the cheerleaders, Aubrey/David and of course Big Ethel/Kevin Hart.

Abby is too cheery which is annoying, and for me the brothers are too cocky.

[aradia22]

My favorites are still Marcus/Michael and Emily/Molly. If another team had to win, I'd take Quinton/Mattie. I like Glenda/Lumumba for the most part but I don't think they can win (this episode's mat chat aside). 

I don't hate anyone else but Derek is starting to annoy me a little, I don't love Abby/Will, and the other teams haven't made a big impression. I'm not actively rooting against anyone but it's the difference between a neutral outcome and a truly likable team winning.

[Browncoat]

Good grief!  Sharik, honey, you absolutely cannot sit there and whine about how you would have done that task better if you refused to even entertain the idea of possibly trying to attempt it!  She was so fast to volunteer Linton -- they barely finished reading the clue before she said he was going to do it.  Gah!  I am not sad to see her leave.  Linton was great, though.

It was probably good for the brothers to get taken down another notch -- they were getting a little cocky.  I'm still rooting for the twins, though I do like Glenda and Lumumba.  The rest are still a bit of a blur.  Pretty funny, though, that that one team couldn't figure out that the slide puzzle was of the structure that was right in front of them.

Man, Petra!  I'm so glad they went there!  I mean, can you imagine telling people, "Oh, yes, I went to Jordan, but didn't get anywhere near Petra, just wandered around the desert with a metal detector."  Even just being there for a little bit would be amazing.  

[PaperTree]

2 hours ago, PurpleTentacle said:

Eh, it's a dry heat. You can live with that pretty well as long as you drink enough.

Like Death Valley.  Hottest place I've ever been was Chichen Itza.

Blazing sun, 104F (40C) with 99% humidity surrounded by the jungle.  Awesome to see, but felt like I was melting.

Edited October 21, 2022 by PaperTree

[eel21788]

13 minutes ago, PaperTree said:

Like Death Valley.  Hottest place I've ever been was Chichen Itza.

Blazing sun, 104F (40C) with 99% humidity surrounded by the jungle.  Awesome to see, but felt like I was melting.

I drove through Death Valley in a car with no air conditioning when it was 112 degrees out. That was not one of my best travel decisions.

On another trip, I also drove across the entire state of Nevada naked because of the same unairconditioned car.

[Quilt Fairy]

9 hours ago, iMonrey said:

How hot was it anyway? Molly and Emily were in long sleeves and long pants. Or were they wearing some sort of cooling fabric? I would have been sweating like a pig. 

Jordan is an Islamic country.  The women were probably advised to keep their arms and legs covered. 

[DEL901]

18 minutes ago, PaperTree said:

Like Death Valley.  Hottest place I've ever been was Chichen Itza.

Blazing sun, 104F (40C) with 99% humidity surrounded by the jungle.  Awesome to see, but felt like I was melting.

Hoover Dam, almost 110F and nothing but cement.  Felt like we were baking, literally.  

[dgpolo]

1 minute ago, Quilt Fairy said:

Jordan is an Islamic country.  The women were probably advised to keep their arms and legs covered. 

That's what I thought.

Have there been greeters on the mat with Phil? I didn't notice one this episode.

There was also a slide puzzle on the beach in Brazil?, I think. Phil had to come and eliminate a team there.

[Skooma]

4 hours ago, Hera said:

,,, But it's hard because I don't know who I would like to see go next. Aubrey/David and Abby/Will seem to have had the least screentime of the remaining teams, though Mattie/Quinton weren't shown very much in this and the previous episode. I suppose the story this episode was about how the two sibling teams lost their places at the front of the pack.

Since I don't any of those teams above and would never be able to pick them out of a line-up, they can all go.

14 minutes ago, Quilt Fairy said:

Jordan is an Islamic country.  The women were probably advised to keep their arms and legs covered. 

Jordan is not a fundamentalist country.  Hell the current king's mother was an American after all.  And the Jordanian men we saw were all wearing long sleeves because of the heat.  That is what you do in a hot, dry climate like that like people said above in their posts already.  It was 100% about protection from the sun.  Period.

Also most Muslims are not fundamentalists just like most Christian aren't either.

Edited October 21, 2022 by Skooma

[eel21788]

2 minutes ago, Skooma said:

Jordan is not a fundamentalist country.  Hell the current king's mother was an American after all.  

Is that why they kept referring to it as "The Kingdom of Jordan" rather than The Country of Jordan?

[ML89]

8 minutes ago, eel21788 said:

Is that why they kept referring to it as "The Kingdom of Jordan" rather than The Country of Jordan?

Yes.

I love Lawrence of Arabia and Indiana Jones, this was right up my street - well, I hate slide puzzles… 

We lost the one person I really couldn’t stand - seriously, Sharik, your dad is pulling you along? I need that Ron Burgundy “I don’t believe you” GIF about your athletic claims. 

[shura]

1 hour ago, Skooma said:

Jordan is not a fundamentalist country.  Hell the current king's mother was an American after all.  And the Jordanian men we saw were all wearing long sleeves because of the heat.  That is what you do in a hot, dry climate like that like people said above in their posts already.  It was 100% about protection from the sun.  Period.

Also most Muslims are not fundamentalists just like most Christian aren't either.

Not being fundamentalist simply means that they are not going to prosecute you for wearing shorts, it doesn’t mean that you can’t cover up to be respectful of Muslim sensibilities. Wearing long clothes works both for this and for sun protection at the same time.

[North of Eden]

You need only to look to that Lawrence of Arabia opening with the train to  understand why THE AMAZING RACE likely has more Emmys than any other reality show.

Outstanding!

Not only that but it was so good to get OUT of Europe. What a breath of fresh air after two seasons cooped up there and then to go to such a breathtaking landscape...and it was staggering to hear ancient Petra bigger than multiple Manhattan Islands! What great ruins will we leave behind to be viewed in wonder thousands of years from now?

Man either that ending wasn't as close as it appears (and I suspect it was not) or that was a fatal flaw picking the laborious roadblock.  The daughter for the most part seemed like she was on traquelizers compared to last week. A little too little a little too late. Bye Dad who seemed like an around great guy.

Has it been confirmed Derek and Claire fell in love while in The Jury House or all this came about after the season ended? 
Clair the A.I. engineer...whenever whatever she is working on becomes self-aware I hope it doesn't go all Skynet on her.

Speaking of Sci/Fi...I do have to take a point away from Phil. The spacecraft in STAR WARS is not futuristic....it's ancient from A Long, Long Time Ago.

[Cotypubby]

Phil: “Petra was thought to be 100 square miles, the size of 100 Manhattan islands.”

uhhhhh, what? 🤨 Manhattan is not one square mile! It’s almost 23 square miles, so Petra would be the size of 4 or 5 Manhattan islands, not 100!! That’s quite a bizarre error to feature in the show. He was just walking and introducing the temple and it could have easily been reshot.

Edited October 21, 2022 by Cotypubby

[30 Helens]

As someone who lives in Texas and needs extreme sun protection for medical reasons, I can affirm that that there is long sleeved clothing that won’t make you hot. Some of it actually has a cooling effect. That just looked like smart packing to me.

Note to Sharik: If you’re going to spend an entire leg threatening to quit, you do not get to complain in the subsequent leg that your father is moving too slow. Honestly, I don’t know why she cared. She should have been happy about the prospect of being eliminated. (Hearing her dad call her his “little princess” in the exit interview, though, explained a lot. She may be an entitled brat, but there’s a reason she is the way she is.)

This was one of the most visually stunning legs in quite awhile. Because Petra was the setting for much of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (one of my favorite movies), I was hoping for a challenge that tied in to the movie. Maybe something that required them to step on a particular sequence of rocks? I wanted to see a clue that referenced a “penitent man”, but that was probably too much— a random beheading might not fly in CBS primetime.

[Roccos Brother]

Gorgeous scenery, but a bit of a boring episode. The detours seemed very unbalanced and not very entertaining to watch. And the whole foreshadowing about Luis and Michelle coming in first just made it too obvious. 

Sad to see all those cans being littered in the sand. I hope the crew at least disposed of them properly once they were unearthed.

Glad to see Sharik go, she didn't want to do any of the roadblocks herself but she'll sit on the sidelines and complain about how her father is doing it incorrectly. Well, her wish to leave the race came true. Byyeee.

39 minutes ago, Cotypubby said:

Phil: “Petra was thought to be 100 square miles, the size of 100 Manhattan islands.”

uhhhhh, what? 🤨 Manhattan is not one square mile! It’s almost 23 square miles, so Petra would be the size of 4 or 5 Manhattan islands, not 100!! That’s quite a bizarre error to feature in the show. He was just walking and introducing the temple and it could have easily been reshot.

Agreed. I actually found myself rewinding that part at least 2-3 times to make sure I heard correctly. Was he referring to a different Manhattan??

Edited October 21, 2022 by Roccos Brother

[Fretful]

11 hours ago, Skooma said:

Actually Gary & Dave did do the metal detector detour at first until they looked up and saw multiple teams soaring above them so they switched over to the hang gliding too since the metal detector was indeed very hard. Gary even explained how large an area it was and the metal detectors back then were bigger and much heavier too.

And yes the Race has been dumbed down a lot over the years since those Season 2 teams would soon be scrambling to get on various different buses for more than a 12 hour ride and two of the buses broke down along the way where teams had to react to that too including Chris jumping in and helping their driver change a big huge bus tire.

And now I am reminded of how wonderfully cast this show used to be. 

[HurricaneVal]

This is where my geography knowledge got a hard check.  I thought Petra was in Turkey.  Now I know it is in Jordan!  I totally squeed last week when I saw it in the previews, and was in awe through the entire episode.  I always wanted to go there, but the heat and aggressive tourist hustling turns me right off.  (Plus I would have gone to Turkey and looked to book an excursion to Petra and....  Well, I would still be in Turkey, where there is plenty to see.  Just not Petra... )

That slot canyon opening to the temple facade burns in my memory from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and when they essentially recreated that shot, I squeed in glee again.  That's what I love so much about this show, the parts of the works we get to see.

We've seen some lyrically beautiful ones, through these 34 seasons.  That canyon on Corsica last season for instance.  That church in a pit somewhere in Africa.  That park somewhere in Asia with all the pools and waterfalls.  That bay with all the rock formation islands also somewhere in Asia.  HD has been good to TAR, that's for sure!  The souks, the city scenes, the colorful villages.  I love this show.

I hope the one twin's leg injury is only temporary, and can be fixed with an overnight rest.  I really like how quietly strong they are, as are the brothers.

I love this show!

Edited October 21, 2022 by HurricaneVal
Another thought leaked out, and spilled here.

[Skooma]

3 hours ago, eel21788 said:

Is that why they kept referring to it as "The Kingdom of Jordan" rather than The Country of Jordan?

Did you know the current king is a great fan of Star Trek and when a student in the US got to have a brief walk on as a "red shirt" in the background of one scene when Star Trek: The Next Generation was in production back then.

1 hour ago, shura said:

Not being fundamentalist simply means that they are not going to prosecute you for wearing shorts, it doesn’t mean that you can’t cover up to be respectful of Muslim sensibilities. Wearing long clothes works both for this and for sun protection at the same time.

Urban women in air conditioned offices in Jordan aren't all covered up with long sleeves.  And shorts I grant you is a bad look almost anywhere outside of the west.  But who wants to wear shorts when traveling the world anyway.

Quote

We've seen some lyrically beautiful ones, through these 34 seasons.  That canyon on Corsica last season for instance.  That church in a pit somewhere in Africa.  That park somewhere in Asia with all the pools and waterfalls.  That bay with all the rock formation islands also somewhere in Asia.  HD has been good to TAR, that's for sure!  The souks, the city scenes, the colorful villages.  I love this show.

I don't remember the Asian park but the church was in Ethiopia and the rock formation islands were off the coast of Thailand though there are also a different kind off the coast of Vietnam too so both I guess.  "Chicken Island" in Season 1 was Thailand though.

Edited October 21, 2022 by Skooma

[Quilt Fairy]

This is what I found on a Jordan tourism site https://www.touristjordan.com/what-to-wear-in-jordan/ :

Quote

Compared to neighboring countries Jordan is fairly relaxed when it comes to clothing. That said the dress codes in this country are still considered strict when you compare it to many Western countries. Jordan is a very religious country and the majority of citizens here are Muslim.

Similarly to most neighboring countries, the dress codes for women are slightly stricter than men. Women should refrain from showing flesh as much as possible to respect the Jordanian culture and way of life. To avoid negative attention, female travelers should wear loose clothing which covers the arms, legs, chest and the nape of the neck.

That said, it doesn't mean that long sleeves and pants won't keep them cooler and prevent sunburn.  There can be more than one reason. 

[SVNBob]

2 hours ago, North of Eden said:

Speaking of Sci/Fi...I do have to take a point away from Phil. The spacecraft in STAR WARS is not futuristic....it's ancient from A Long, Long Time Ago.

Preach!  That was my main quibble with Phil too.  Also, Star Wars isn't really sci-fi, it's space fantasy.  Jedi and Sith are basically wizards after all.

1 hour ago, Roccos Brother said:

Agreed. I actually found myself rewinding that part at least 2-3 times to make sure I heard correctly. Was he referring to a different Manhattan??

Manhattan, Kansas maybe...

56 minutes ago, Skooma said:

Did you know the current king is a great fan of Star Trek and when a student in the US got to have a brief walk on as a "red shirt" in the background of one scene when Star Trek: The Next Generation was in production back then.

Voyager, not TNG.  And not exactly a "red shirt" since he did survive the episode.  (Plus he was in science blue, but that's neither here nor there.)  And according to Memory Alpha, he invited two of the stars (Ethan Phillips and Robert Picardo) to visit Jordan, which they did.  So he arranged tours of the archaeological sites for them and also threw a mini-convention for the other Jordanian Trekkies.

Other Trek connections to Jordan include the Wadi Rum.  It was used as the location in the opening scene of the pilot of Discovery.  And that footage was enhanced with CG for a first season episode of Picard.  So between this and the factual mistake mentioned above (plus the fact that the franchise is still part of CBS), Phil should have name-checked Star Trek at the Roadblock instead of Star Wars.

[Vermicious Knid]

I wish Phil had mentioned something about the Nabateans who built Petra, instead of just talking about it as a movie set. It's an empire most people have never heard of.

I currently live in Las Vegas and have done archaeological excavations in the Middle East. I wore shorts and tank tops to excavate and wear the minimum now when it's hot. I understand covering up and wearing long sleeves to protect from the sun or retain perspiration to keep cool - hence the traditional robes - but it's just unbearable to me.

[Fake Jan Brady]

My favourite bit was seeing which teams were the most confused when Phil announced they were going to Jordan.

On 10/20/2022 at 3:06 PM, aradia22 said:

I'm neutral about Luis and Michelle winning. It's nice to be surprised by shakeups in placement but I'm not actively rooting for them. 

At least I finally know who they are now [aka not the team that came second last].