Should Have Turned Left

Should Have Turned Left is the eighth episode of The Amazing Race Asia 5.

Story
Retrieved from AXN.com

It's the eighth leg of The Amazing Race Asia and teams must depart Singapore and head to Yogyakarta, Indonesia where they must make their way to Jomblang Cave to retrieve their next clue. The first team that reaches the Garuda Indonesia check-in counter in Singapore gets special access to the Garuda lounge. JK & Mike are first to reach the airport and they decide to gift the special access to the other teams via a simple lucky draw. Rona & Eric win the pick of the draw and they gleefully make full use of the lounge. "What a bunch of sweethearts!" exclaimed Eric, touched by their action. At Yogyakarta, the teams rush out to grab a taxi to Jomblang Cave. Drama ensues as Treasuri & Louisa squeeze through the other teams and forcefully get their tickets first. The other teams look on with distain and shock. "This is a competition and everyone is entitled to go faster", Louisa reasons. "I am not talking to Treasuri ever again!" JK says, still mad at Treasuri and Louisa. "We have a pact with Eric and Rona, and that's to get rid of Treasuri and Louisa. That's the goal", says Parul and Maggie revealing their strategy. While the other teams make their way to Jomblang Cave, Eric & Rona have to perform their Speed Bump penalty to make up for the last leg's non-elimination. At this Speed Bump, Eric & Rona have to drink a traditional Indonesian herbal concoction while being blindfolded and guess which one it is. The duo bravely down the concoction and using its bitter taste as a gauge, they manage to guess the correct bottle in just a few minutes. At Jomblang Cave, the teams find out that it's a Roadblock – "who's ready to walk the line?" – In this Roadblock, one team member must walk on a rope across a 100m vertical cave and descend down a vertical ladder to retrieve their clue. Teams who drop their clue or fall from the rope must redo the task or risk a two hour time penalty. JK and Treasuri are first to walk the line. Treasuri is confident at succeeding at this task, but after 10 steps she realizes that it requires a tremendous amount of upper arm strength. JK struggles to keep his balance especially with Treasuri on the other side of the line. "Treasuri is on the other side? She's heavier than me! Is that possible?" JK and Mike argue. Treasuri keeps her cool and swiftly completes this task, leaving JK still stuck in the middle. Parul steps onto the rope while JK is still on it, shaking their balance. At the pivotal moment, JK can't hold on any longer and plunges into the cave, still harnessed of course. "I don't know what happened, but I just dropped…at this point in time, I just gave up. Everything just switched off". JK reflects on the task, "It's a horrible feeling". Exhausted from hanging on for so long, JK doesn't want to redo the task and chooses to take the penalty, giving Parul, Yvonne and Eric the lead. Once the teams finish with this Roadblock, they must head to Prambanan Temple for yet another Roadblock – "who recognizes Divine Order?". One team member must head into the Prambanan Temple to memorize the names and locations of the Hindu deities. Treasuri chooses to take up this Roadblock and she comes up with a strategy to memorize the names and locations. Not surprising, she guesses everything correctly on her first try and they can proceed to the next task. "There are so many people and I was talking to myself. People are looking at me, probably thinking that I'm a mad lady". Treasuri doesn't care. After seeing the other teams passing them by, JK decides to give this task another try and he gets up on the rope again. "Mentally I was stronger because of Mike's encouragement, but physically I was done. There were so many times where I wanted to let go and just fall into the abyss", JK said describing his second attempt. Fortunately for him, he manages to complete the task in his second attempt and they both rush to Prambranan Temple for their next Roadblock. "This is the proudest I have ever felt of him", said Mike giving JK a huge tearful hug after JK completes the task. After the Roadblock at Prambranan Temple, teams must head for their Route Marker, where both team members must master the basics of traditional archery called Jeparingan. Each team member must hit the target once in order to move on. At the archery range, Treasuri and Louisa yet again manage to finish the task way ahead of the other teams. "When we got to the archery challenge, Treasuri and Lousia were nowhere to be seen. They basically left all of us behind". Maggie complains. After the archery task, teams must head to Alun-Alun Selatan Square and complete laps around the square in their Odong-Odong, a colorfully lit-up pedal cart with two locals. Once they have completed the required number of laps, they must pedal the Odong-Odong straight to the Pit Stop located at Ndalem Ngabean. The other teams are not as good as Treasuri and Louisa. Parul struggles to hit the target with her shaking arms and both beauty queens start crying due to frustration. Once Eric & Rona figure out the right aim and direction, they manage to hit the target. Treasuri and Louisa quickly complete the task and arrive at the Pit Stop first, giving them the honor of having four first places in the race so far. Eric & Rona arrive in second place and Parul & Maggie are third. After Yvonne and Chloe take a long time trying to get a taxi to Alun-Alun Selatan Square, JK & Mike manage to catch up and both teams are competing for fourth place and are only mere seconds apart. It was such a close finish but JK & Mike receive the wrong direction from a local and that ultimately messes up their game. Yvonne & Chloe arrive at fourth place and JK & Mike arrive last and they are eliminated. "I wouldn't have changed anything at all, it was a glorious, glorious experience", reflected Mike. "But we should have turned left", JK quipped.