AMAZING RACE 36 (originally 35) **LIVE SPOILERS** (Members Only) > AMAZING RACE RACE 35 (originally run as 36)
Racing reports TAR 35, episode #12 is on page #1
maf:
This thread will contain my racing reports where I try to describe in detail what happened on each leg. I try to give as much details about clue wordings etc as possible.
At the start of each leg, if we are given start times, I list them and how long after the first team each team is. For example:
Teams are released in the following order:
1.Leo & Jamal 00:42 2.Colin & Christie 00:45+0:03 3.Tyler & Korey 00:54+0:12From this table we can see that Colin & Christie started 3 minutes after Leo & Jamal and that Tyler & Korey started 12 minutes after Leo & Jamal.
I will also give the order teams arrive to or finish tasks. Whenever I do this I also try to give the placement changes. For example:
1(+3) Jocely & Victor
2(+1) Rob & Corey
3(-2) Morgan & Lena
This means that Jocely & Victor have climbed three spots since the last time we got an order (when they were 4th). Morgan & Lena have however dropped two spots (i.e. they were the first team at the last location).
I also try to give distances to locations in parentheses like: "race to LAX (23km)". Which mean that it was 23km to LAX from where the racers were.
I should also state that for some information I rely a lot of what people have written in other threads on this site.
I hope this makes it easier to read the reports. Happy racing...
maf:
Racing report
Amazing Race Season 35, Episode 1, "The Amazing Race Is Back!"
Film date: 2023-06-13 - 2023-06-15
The episode starts with Phil saying that the race is back and this time they will circle the globe in the old school way.
The starting line for this 35th season is by the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles. We call it the 35th season because it is the 35th season to air. They did actually film another season before this which for unknown reasons have not been aired yet. So while it is officially the 35th season it is actually the 36th season to film. Are you confused yet? In any way we will refer to this season as the 35th.
The teams in this season are:
* Todd & Ashlie, Married high school sweethearts
* Andrea & Malaina, College friends
* Morgan & Lena, Sisters
* Rob & Corey, Father and son. The dad, Rob, is deaf
* Joel & Garrett, Best friends who met while in the military
* Joe & Ian, Engaged
* Jocely & Victor, Married Entrepreneurs
* Elizabeth & Iliana, Mother and daughter
* Alexandra & Sheridan, Siblings and roommates
* Liam & Yeremi, Brothers
* Greg & John, Brothers and computer scientists
* Robbin & Chelsea, Childhood friends
* Steve & Anna Leigh, Father and daughter
On the starting line Phil asks some teams to tell the others a little bit about themselves. We only see him ask a few teams but I get the impression that all of them got to present themselves. This is usually the first time teams may speak to each other so I am sure they were listening carefully to gauge the opposition.
Phil then tells them that every leg will be an elimination leg, there will be an express pass and a mandatory voting U-turn.
The starting line was at the start of Mt Lee Dr. The cars are parked on N Beachwood Dr just south of Temple Hill Dr, which is 2.5km from the start. All teams run up to the cars together, and there is no way that would have happened if there had been a race from the starting line. So I assume that they had a second start closer to the cars. That way there is no rush getting down from the sign and there is much less of a risk of somebody injuring themselves running downhill (think of the camera teams).
From a comment by one of the racers it seemed that you claimed a car by grabbing the clue on it.
--- Quote ---ROUTE INFO
Drive to the historic
Biltmore in
downtown Los Angeles
to find your next clue.
You have $120 for this
leg of the race.
--- End quote ---
Everybody starts looking for directions, a bunch of teams descend on one guy who is walking his dog close to the cars. Alexandra & Sheridan spend the most time looking at the map on his phone, so long that they are the last team to leave.
"I am a CODA, which stands for Child Of Deaf Adult", Corey had two deaf parents
Teams reach the clue box outside the Biltmore Hotel (11km) in the following order:
1. Greg & John
2. Joe & Ian
3. Andrea & Malaina
4. Robbin & Chelsea
5. Todd & Ashlie
6. Rob & Corey
7. Morgan & Lena
8. Jocely & Victor
9. Liam & Yeremi
10. Steve & Anna Leigh
11. Joel & Garrett
12. Alexandra & Sheridan
13. Elizabeth & Iliana
The clue box has number tags on the front and each team grabs a number. This also lets every team know which position they are in.
Road block: "Who wants to be above it all?"
In this road block contestants must cross between two wings of the hotel on a tightrope and then they must unscramble a word puzzle.
The word puzzle consists of 12 characters. There are empty lines are arranged to form three words: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _. The letters listed under are ACEFGILNOSTY. Teams must unscramble this into "City of Angels" and tell that to the task judges, Derek & Claire (the winners of the last season).
Phil also tells us that there are two flights available and the first flight has room for six teams. Teams who get tickets for the first flight, by arriving first at the ticket counter, will get a 90 minutes head start.
There are five tightropes available so there should not be much of a queue. Specially as it seems the actual tightrope part of the task is fairly quick. Nobody is shown struggling. The hard part of this task turns out to be the word scramble. Contestants are full of adrenaline so it is hard to concentrate and they have no pen and paper so they have to do it all in their heads.
Liam & Yeremi play rock, paper, scissors about who should do the road block. And Alexandra & Sheridan seem to have a hard time deciding who should do it.
"You pick", Alexandra
"I don't care", Sheridan
Eventually they decide that Sheridan will do this task.
Everybody but the first two teams are stumped by the puzzle. At one point we get told that 50 minutes have elapsed. We also get to see lots of people making guesses in front of the judges. Eventually Victor gets it and he tells Joe.
We also get something as unusual as a glimpse of the line where teams are waiting to go in front of the judges. Todd is pretty sure that he got the correct response and he promises to tell the others if he can move to the head if the line. This was not a smart move.
When Rob get to the judges there is an ASL interpreter following him.
Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock):
1(+0)Greg* & John (1-0) 2(+4)Rob* & Corey (1-0) 3(+5)Jocely & Victor* (0-1) 4(-2)Joe* & Ian (1-0) 5(+0)Todd* & Ashlie (1-0) 6(+4)Steve & Anna Leigh* (0-1) 7(-4)Andrea* & Malaina (1-0) 8(-4)Robbin & Chelsea* (0-1) 9(+3)Alexandra & Sheridan*(0-1)10(-3)Morgan* & Lena (1-0)11(+2)Elizabeth & Iliana* (0-1)12(-3)Liam* & Yeremi (1-0)13(-2)Joel* & Garrett (1-0)
The next clue is a route info which tells them to race to LAX (23km) and then fly to the other "City of Angels", Bangkok Thailand. The first flight is operated by China Airways so all teams queue up at the marked ticket counter there. Teams only know that there is a limited number of seats on this plane but do not know how many will fit.
At the airport we learn that John has been practicing ASL so he can talk to Rob.
All teams reach the ticket counter before it even opens so we have a long line of teams. In the end teams end up on these flights:
Flight #1:
CAL7 LAX-TPE 00:33 - 05:04+1 (scheduled 00:05 - 05:00)
CAL833 TPE-BKK 07:14 - 09:48 (scheduled 07:10 - 09:45)
This carries:
1(+0) Greg & John
2(+0) Rob & Corey
3(+0) Jocely & Victor
4(+1) Todd & Ashlie
5(+2) Andrea & Malaina
6(+4) Morgan & Lena
Flight #2:
EVA11 LAX-TPE 00:27 - 05:04+1 (scheduled 00:25 - 05:10)
EVA75 TPE-BKK 08:36 - 11:21 (scheduled 08:20 - 11:15)
This carries:
7(+6) Joel & Garrett
8(-2) Steve & Anna Leigh
9(-1) Robbin & Chelsea
10(+1) Elizabeth & Iliana
11(+1) Liam & Yeremi
12(-3) Alexandra & Sheridan
13(-9) Joe & Ian (got lost on the way to the airport)
I note that in the episode we get a sign that the first flight departs at 12:05 am and the second flight at 01:30. Which is not correct but I guess a simpler way of showing that the second flight will arrive 90 minutes after the first when teams arrive in Bangkok.
Once they land teams make their way to Wat Paknam, a temple know for housing an enormous golden Buddha statue. Almost every team has the address of the temple written down so I assume they got this info in the clue back in Los Angeles and they have had time to research it.
On the way to the temple we learn that Victor understands Thai since he speak Laotian which is a very similar language.
Todd talks to Ashlie that she is fantastic but need to work on not freaking out about things they can not control. This as they are in a slow taxi and getting passed by the other teams.
Teams reach the clue box in front of the giant golden Buddha (46km, ~90min) in the following order:
1. Morgan & Lena
2. Andrea & Malaina
3. Rob & Corey
4. Jocely & Victor
5. Todd & Ashlie
6. Greg & John
7. Robbin & Chelsea
8. Joel & Garrett
9. Joe & Ian
10. Steve & Anna Leigh
11. Alexandra & Sheridan
12. Elizabeth & Iliana
13. Liam & Yeremi
Route info: "Travel by Long-tail boat and and then by Tuc-Tuc to Wat Suthat. When you arrive, search the temple grounds to find your next clue."
The envelope also contains a separate sheet with instructions for how to win the express pass. To get it teams must find a marked vendor in the garden behind the Buddha and complete a task. At the stall they find a sign:
--- Quote ---Each of you must eat
one plate of exotic
fried insects. You may
not help your partner.
--- End quote ---
Each plate contains a fairly large serving of worms, crickets and the piece de resistance is a fried tarantula. Morgan & Lena go for this
"I'm grossed out for the crickets", Morgan
Morgan & Lena have made a fairly sizable dent in the servings when the next team arrive.
"Welcome to hell", Lena
Andrea & Malaina take one look at the plates they would have to eat and Morgan & Lena and decide to skip this task.
"We're not eating no bugs", Malaina
I wonder if they would have reacted differently if there was not already a team there? In any case I think they made the right decision as they would probably not have beaten Morgan & Lena.
The next team to reach the marked vendor is Jocely & Victor (Rob & Corey got lost) and as they arrive Morgan & Lena are just getting approved and are about to get the express pass.
After reading the clue teams need to make their way to the temple pier. Here they must pick up named life vests and then jump into one of the provided long-tail boats (one team per boat).
"This is what makes the race amazing", Ashlie find the boat trip amazing
After the boat drops them off teams must ride a Tuc-tuc to their next destination. These are not provided so teams must find them themselves. I wonder if teams had to get one for their camera crew as well or if that one was provided.
Teams reach the clue box in Wat Suthat in the following order:
1(+3) Jocely & Victor
2(+1) Rob & Corey
3(-2) Morgan & Lena
4(+1) Todd & Ashlie
5(+1) Greg & John
6(-4) Andrea & Malaina
7(+1) Joel & Garrett
8(+1) Joe & Ian
9(+1) Steve & Anna Leigh
10(-3) Robbin & Chelsea
11(+0) Alexandra & Sheridan
12(+0) Elizabeth & Iliana
13(+0) Liam & Yeremi
Detour: Sword Play or Spa Day
In Sword Play teams must learn a 30 second sword routine. This takes place in Saranrom Park (800m). First they get to train with wooden sticks but when it is time to perform they are given real swords. These have a different weight distribution to the practice sticks and this makes the task harder. It is made even harder by the strict judge.
In Spa Day teams make their way to Putthinan Thai massage parlor (650m). Here they will have to endure a 30 minute painful massage. If they stop the massage along the way they loose their spot and their time is reset (for both team members). The massage parlor only has room for 5 teams at a time.
The massage seems really painful and we get to hear lots of groans from the contestants.
"Oh my god, please just don't break my back", Jocely
Todd did not read the clue completely so when they are almost halfway through the massage it gets a bit too intense so he says "Oh, wait, wait, wait". When he does this their masseuses immediately stop the massage. Fortunately for them there are no teams waiting so they can resume immediately, but their timer is reset so they will have to endure 30 more minutes.
Andrea & Malaina make one attempt at the sword routine before they decide to switch to the spa task
Elizabeth & Iliana are the last to arrive to the massage parlor and by that time all the masseuses are busy. They now have to choose if they want to stay and wait or switch to doing sword play. It is not a trivial decision, they assume that they are last and waiting for another team to be done will put them further behind, and sitting around doing nothing but waiting feels the worst on the race. On the other hand if they switch they have to make their way to the sword play detour (1.4km), get changed and learn the routine. Eventually they decide to stay, which probably was the best decision.
"I had two babies, I can deal with this", Elizabeth
Teams complete the detour in the following order:
1(+0) Jocely & Victor, spa day
2(+0) Rob & Corey, spa day
3(+0) Morgan & Lena, spa day, almost15 minutes after #2
4(+1) Greg & John, spa day
5(-1) Todd & Ashlie, spa day, after having to restart their treatment
6(+3) Steve & Anna Leigh , spa day
7(+0) Joel & Garrett, spa day
8(-2) Andrea & Malaina, started sword play but switched to spa day
9(+1) Robbin & Chelsea, spa day
10(+3) Liam & Yeremi, spa day
11(-3) Joe & Ian, sword play on their 1st attempt
12(+0) Elizabeth & Iliana, spa day
13(+0) Alexandra & Sheridan, sword play on their 9th attempt
The next clue tells teams to race to the Pit Stop at Wat Chaloem Phra Kiat Worawihan.
Teams reach the mat (20km) in the following order:
1(+0) Jocely & Victor, win enough Expedia points for a trip to Patagonia, Chile
2(+0) Rob & Corey
3(+1) Greg & John
4(-1) Morgan & Lena
5(+0) Todd & Ashlie
6(+0) Steve & Anna Leigh
7(+0) Joel & Garrett
8(+2) Liam & Yeremi
9(+2) Joe & Ian
10(-2) Andrea & Malaina
11(-2) Robbin & Chelsea
12(+0) Elizabeth & Iliana
13(+0) Alexandra & Sheridan, are eliminated
At the mat Phil totally fools Elizabeth & Iliana with his expression. They are convinced they will get eliminated.
"You have the best poker face ever", Elizabeth
"I'm also really happy to have had this incredible opportunity to go on a race that we've watched since we was little, and to have done it with my sister", Sheridan
maf:
Racing report
Amazing Race Season 35, Episode 2, "You don't see that at home"
Film date: 2023-06-16
The last Pit Stop was at Wat Chaloem Phra Kiat Worawihan in Bangkok and this leg starts from the same temple. Teams are released in the following order:
1.Jocelyn & Victor 08:26 2.Rob & Corey 08:34+0:08 3.Greg & John 08:44+0:18 4.Morgan & Lena 08:55+0:29 5.Todd & Ashlie 09:01+0:35 6.Steve & Anna Leigh10:23+1:57 7.Joel & Garrett 10:28+2:02 8.Liam & Yeremi 10:36+2:10 9.Joe & Ian 10:39+2:1310.Andrea & Malaina 10:44+2:1811.Robbin & Chelsea 10:45+2:1912.Elizabeth & Iliana11:09+2:43
Route info: "Travel by taxi to Wat Suwannaram in Salaya to find your next clue."
Production has helpfully made sure a suitable number of taxis are waiting outside the temple so teams jump into them.
On the way we learn that Jocelyn & Victor are celebrating their 20th anniversary today. Morgan & Lena say that they must use their express pass by the end of leg #4. We also learn that Robbin & Chelsea had a rocky start of their friendship. It started with Robbin and her friends more or less bullying Chelsea. But a couple of weeks later they saw each other on Soccer practice and ended up working together and became friends. And now 30 years later they are here.
Greg & John and Liam & Yeremi learn that there are two temples called Wat Suwannaram and that they forgot to say the Salaya part of the clue which tells them apart. Fortunately for them they only loose a couple of placements due to this (their route is 14km longer).
Teams reach the clue box at Wat Suwannaram (32km) in the following order:
1(+0) Jocelyn & Victor
2(+0) Rob & Corey
3(+1) Morgan & Lena
4(+1) Todd & Ashlie
5(-2) Greg & John
6(+0) Steve & Anna Leigh
7(+0) Joel & Garrett
8(+1) Joe & Ian
9(+1) Andrea & Malaina
10(+1) Robbin & Chelsea
11(-3) Liam & Yeremi
12(+0) Elizabeth & Iliana
Road block: Who has a green thumb?
In this road block one contestants must ride a boat to a Lotus pond. Once there they must pick 20 Lotus buds and a few leaves. They must then arrange these into two bundles which look like the given example.
The Lotus grows in a big pond and contestants are given plastic pants, gloves and some shoes to wear. The pants do not really help as the water is fairly deep. It is also very muddy and there are catfish swimming around in it. The bottom is so muddy that multiple racers loose at least one of the provided shoes in the mud.
The judge is very picky. The bulbs must be:
* Of similar size
* Placed 3-4-3
* Wrapped in leaves
* Tidily tied with bamboo ties
The judge tries to convey what people are getting rejected for but there is a big language barrier so this task turns out to be surprisingly difficult. For example to Rob she points to the bulbs to convey that they are not in a 3-4-3 configuration. But Rob interprets that as "So the leaves were too loose, too wobbly, so I have to make them tight and snug".
The boat trip to the task looks really amazing. But it is also a bit disconcerting as the non participating team members are left by the clue box, which means that they can not even see where the task takes place.
This is another task which gets harder for the teams towards the back of the pack as the Lotus buds close to the work area have already been picked by the time they get there so they have to walk further in the mud.
"Let me see... Yes, you have green thumbs", Joel checks Garrett's thumbs
"You don't see that at home", Rob gets the title when spotting a private temple in somebody's back yard along the canal
In the boat Lena talks about hoping there are no crocodiles in the water. And then we get a shot of a swimming giant lizard.
"The water is really really muddy and I think my feet are sinking in. Alright, I think I'm stuck", Jocelyn manages to get free though
"She will do much better than me, and she will enjoy it", Morgan on how much Lena enjoys working with flowers
"Ohh, that's a spider", Lena looks very uncomfortable in the water picking Lotus buds
"To be honest with you, I'm just kind of winging it at this moment", Ashlie has a hard time figuring out what she is doing wrong
Meanwhile back at the dock the waiting team members are given fish food and are enjoying themselves feeding the catfish and getting to know each other.
Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock):
1(+0)Jocelyn* & Victor (1-1)On her 12th attempt 2(+0)Rob* & Corey (2-0)On his 5th attempt 3(+2)Greg* & John (2-0)On his 2nd shown attempt 4(-1)Morgan & Lena* (1-1) 5(+1)Steve* & Anna Leigh (1-1)On his 12th attempt 6(-2)Todd & Ashlie* (1-1)On her 15th attempt 7(+0)Joel & Garrett* (1-1)On his 6th attempt 8(+0)Joe & Ian* (1-1)On his 5th attempt 9(+2)Liam & Yeremi* (1-1)On his 4th attempt10(+2)Elizabeth* & Iliana (1-1)On her 10th attempt11(-2)Andrea & Malaina* (1-1)On her 11th attempt12(-2)Robbin* & Chelsea (1-1)On her 16th attempt
Route info: "Travel by taxi to Wat Rai Khing. When you arrive find the marked elephant and place one coin into the coin slot. Then walk under the elephant three times for good luck to receive your next clue."
After having ridden for a while Joel & Garrett realize they do not have their fanny pack.
"Where is the fanny pack?", Garrett
"I am supposed to be wearing it, but I'm not", Joel
They manage to get their driver, who does not speak English, to turn around and have no problems finding the pack once they get back. But they did loose some time. Apparently Iliana noticed that they forgot their fanny pack but she choose to not say anything, which is smart.
Teams find the elephant (17km) in the following order:
1(+0) Jocelyn & Victor
2(+0) Rob & Corey
3(+0) Greg & John
4(+0) Morgan & Lena
5(+0) Steve & Anna Leigh
6(+0) Todd & Ashlie
7(+1) Joe & Ian
8(-1) Joel & Garrett
9(+0) Liam & Yeremi
10(+0) Elizabeth & Iliana
11(+0) Andrea & Malaina
12(+0) Robbin & Chelsea, saw the two teams in front of them here so they are not far behind
--- Quote ---Detour: Stock Up or
Scoop Up
Stock Up: Shop at a
market for food items
needed by a local
restaurant to receive
your next clue.
Scoop Up: Retrieve
pomelos from the
irrigation canals of a
local orchard to receive
your next clue.
--- End quote ---
In Stock Up teams receive a shopping lists which reads:
* 12 khai bpet
* 2 luuk kha noon
* 1 khaa muu thawwt
* 1 braawk khoh lee
* 2 sap pba roht
* 1 luuk thoo riian
* 1 ped yang
* 2 nam tarn ma frow 1kg
The shopping detour takes place at the Donwal market.
"Is it just that easy?", Todd realizes that "braawk khoh lee" means Broccoli
In Scoop Up teams must ride a boat and collect enough pomelos to fill five baskets. The boat will not fit that much fruit so they will have to make multiple trips. This task takes place at Ton Som O Farm 3.
Steve & Anna Leigh are a bit too optimistic about how many pomelos they can fit in their boat so their boat sink and all the fruit floats away.
"This is not good... we're going down", Anna Leigh
Luckily for them the canal is not deep so they can lift up their boat, empty it and resume the task.
Elizabeth & Iliana have seen the show before so they do not want to do shop. They show their driver the address to the pomelo detour, but he instead follows Andre & Malaina's driver to the market. After looking for the fruit task there for a short while they realize they are in the wrong location and that they do not want to waste the time to go to the other detour so they decide to do the shopping detour anyway.
Tension is high for Elizabeth & Iliana and Andrea & Malaina as they assume they are fighting to stay in the race. Elizabeth & Iliana go to get checked first but they are told their stuff is no good. They have to figure out for themselves what they are lacking which is nontrivial given that the shopping list only lists the phonetic versions of the Thai words. After a while they figure out that they did not get a Durian (Luuk thoo riian). In the meantime Andrea & Malaina get approved.
Teams complete the detour in the following order:
1(+0) Jocelyn & Victor, shop
2(+0) Rob & Corey, fruit
3(+0) Greg & John, fruit
4(+0) Morgan & Lena, fruit
5(+1) Todd & Ashlie, shop
6(-1) Steve & Anna Leigh, fruit
7(+0) Joe & Ian, fruit
8(+1) Liam & Yeremi, fruit
9(+2) Andrea & Malaina, shop
10(-2) Joel & Garrett, fruit
11(+1) Robbin & Chelsea, fruit
12(-2) Elizabeth & Iliana, wanted to do fruit but got driven to shop
Route info: "Race to your next Pit Stop at Suan Sampran. Hurry, the last team to check in will be eliminated!"
Teams reach Phil at the mat in the following order:
1(+0) Jocelyn & Victor, win $2,000 each
2(+0) Rob & Corey
3(+0) Greg & John
4(+0) Morgan & Lena
5(+0) Todd & Ashlie
6(+0) Steve & Anna Leigh
7(+0) Joe & Ian
8(+0) Liam & Yeremi
9(+1) Joel & Garrett
10(-1) Andrea & Malaina
11(+0) Robbin & Chelsea
12(+0) Elizabeth & Iliana, are eliminated
In an interview Joel & Garrett tell us that they did actually race Andrea & Malaina to the mat but this was not shown in the episode.
"I'm just so happy that I got to do this with my mum", Iliana
maf:
Racing report
Amazing Race Season 35, Episode 3, "No sleep and a million dollar dream"
Film date: 2023-06-18 - 2023-06-19
The last Pit Stop was at Suan Sampran, outside Bangkok. For this leg team are released from Santi Chai Prakan Park in Bangkok. Teams are released in the following order:
1.Jocelyn & Victor 05:24 2.Rob & Corey 05:54+0:30 3.Greg & John 06:41+1:17 4.Morgan & Lena 07:08+1:44 5.Todd & Ashlie 07:29+2:05 6.Steve & Anna Leigh07:49+2:25 7.Joe & Ian 08:30+3:06 8.Liam & Yeremi 08:45+3:21 9.Joel & Garrett 09:00+3:3610.Andrea & Malaina 09:01+3:3711.Robbin & Chelsea 09:08+3:44
Route info: "Fly to Vietnam. When you arrive travel by bus to the city of Can Tho"
Morgan & Lena tells us that they must use the express pass before the end of leg #4 and they aim to use it during this leg.
Teams must first make their way to a travel agency named Thailand Tour & Travel 2. Here they will need to book their flight to Ho Chi Minh city. The travel agency turns out to open at 7, which is about 30 minutes after the first team arrives. This is according to what Victor says in the episode. But there is something strange with this. The travel agency is only 800m from the start and as the first team left at 05:24, how could it take them an hour to get there?
The travel agency is a bit on the basic side. They do not have any computers instead the agents call around to some other parties and book the trips over the phone. And either one of the guys were better than the others or some seats opened up during the day because some of the later teams got a much better flight than the ones before.
Eventually teams are booked on these flights:
VU130 BKK-SGN ~15:00 - ~16:40 (scheduled 13:45 - 15:25)
Jocelyn & Victor
Rob & Corey
Greg & John
Morgan & Lena
VJ804 BKK-SGN 14:34 - 16:51 (scheduled 13:50 - 15:20)
Joe & Ian
Joel & Garrett
VJ806 BKK-SGN 20:17 - 22:24 (scheduled 19:55 - 21:25)
Todd & Ashlie
Steve & Anna Leigh
Liam & Yeremi
Andrea & Malaina
Robbin & Chelsea
At the airport Joel & Garrett run into Todd & Ashlie and they talk about their flights. Ashlie is not happy that they got a flight 6 hours before them even though they got to the travel agency after them.
"I think my hair caught on fire, I was mad", Anna Leigh when she heard about the earlier flight they did not get on
"This is old school Amazing Race, this is suffering in the airport Amazing Race", Chelsea
Also teams on flight #1 are not happy when it is delayed so they will not be the first to arrive. But they take solace in the fact that bunch of teams are on a much later flight.
Once teams land they jump into taxis and make their way to the West Coach Station (12km). Here they buy bus tickets on FUTA bus lines and end up on the following buses:
Bus #1 18:30 - 22:30
Joe & Ian
Bus #1 18:31 - 22:31
Joel & Garrett
Bus #3 19:30 - 23:30
Morgan & Lena
Jocelyn & Victor
Greg & John
Rob & Corey
Bus #4 01:00 - 05:00
Todd & Ashlie
Steve & Anna Leigh
Andrea & Malaina
Liam & Yeremi
Robbin & Chelsea
The buses seem to be fairly comfortable sleeper buses. Which is good as the trip takes 4 hours.
Once in Can Tho teams make their way to a dock where they must pick up tickets for sampan departures the next morning. There are three departure times and teams end up on these times:
* 05:45 departure
Joe & Ian
Joel & Garrett
Rob & Corey
Steve & Anna Leigh
* 06:00 departure
Jocelyn & Victor
Morgan & Lena
Greg & John
Todd & Ashlie
* 06:15 departure
Liam & Yeremi
Robbin & Chelsea
Andrea & Malaina
It turns out that there was a 5:45 ticket hidden in the box holding the 6:15 tickets and Anna Leigh was the only one looking at all of them so she got it.
"We had ten minutes to wash up, clean some armpits and we were out there. Running on no sleep and a million dollar dream", Anna Leigh gets the title
Teams must now travel by sampan to the Cai Rang floating market and deliver fruit to three marked vendors. Each vendor will give them a third of a photograph which, when put together, reveals the location of their next clue.
Each vendor accepts only one type of fruit. The task is made a bit more intense by the fact that each team must deliver 3-7 baskets of fruit to each vendor. But they can not just give them the baskets, instead they must hand them the fruits one by one (or in one case two at a time). And this takes a lot of time. Each vendor can accept delivery by at most two teams simultaneously (one per side of the boat).
The first teams have a great advantage here as they do not need to wait for any free spots by the vendors. The later teams will have to spend a lot of time waiting. This frustrates Morgan & Lena so they use their express pass.
Joe & Ian make a crucial mistake when they forget to collect their clue from one of the vendors. They go back but two boats are already unloading and instead of waiting in line they go to their last boat before going back. When they come back there are still two boats unloading but now there are also two boats waiting in line so they just have to wait even longer.
Greg & John are frustrated with their boat driver who seems to always take the longest route. This could also just be a misunderstanding from their part and him following the local traffic rules.
Once teams have all three parts of the photograph they can show it to their captain and he will take them to the shown dock. There they will find a fisherman handing them their next clue. Teams reach the fisherman by the dock after this task in the following order:
1. Joel & Garrett
2. Morgan & Lena
3. Steve & Anna Leigh
4. Rob & Corey
5. Todd & Ashlie
6. Joe & Ian
7. Liam & Yeremi
8. Jocelyn & Victor
9. Robbin & Chelsea
10. Greg & John
11. Andrea & Malaina
Detour: Paper or Plastic
In paper teams must create sheets of rice paper. Each sheet is made by pouring a mixture onto a steamer, let it cook for 30 seconds before using a wicker bat to pick it up and placing it on a drying rack. Each team must create 12 flawless sheets.
In plastic teams must cut, apply, heath and smooth out vinyl over one moped body part.
The detours are located close to each other but teams need to travel there by taxi. Production has made sure a bunch of taxis are waiting by the dock.
The vinyl task turns out to be really difficult and time consuming.
"Slow and steady wins this race", Lena applying vinyl
There seems to be limited stations at both detours. The paper one can only accommodate five teams at any one time. All of them are busy when Andrea & Malaina arrive. But the girls are smart so while they wait for a station to become available they look at the demonstration and what the judge is saying to the other teams.
Jocelyn & Victor have a hard time making rice paper and they start to get a little snappy with each other.
"It's not sticking, I do not know why it is not sticking to my thing", Victor fails to pick up the cooked rice paper
Teams complete the detour in the following order:
1(+2) Steve & Anna Leigh, paper
2(-1) Joel & Garrett, paper
3(+1) Rob & Corey, paper
4(+1) Todd & Ashlie, paper
5(-3) Morgan & Lena, plastic
6(+3) Robbin & Chelsea, paper
7(+4) Andrea & Malaina, paper
8(-2) Joe & Ian, plastic
9(+1) Greg & John, paper
10(-2) Jocelyn & Victor, paper
11(-4) Liam & Yeremi, plastic, just after #10
The next clue tells teams to travel by taxi to the Pit Stop at Trúc lâm phu'o'ng nam Zen monastery.
"This was a long challenging leg", Yeremi
Teams reach Phil at the monastery in the following order:
1(+0) Steve & Anna Leigh
2(+0) Joel & Garrett
3(+0) Rob & Corey
4(+0) Todd & Ashlie
5(+1) Robbin & Chelsea
6(-1) Morgan & Lena
7(+1) Joe & Ian
8(+1) Greg & John
9(-2) Andrea & Malaina
10(+0) Jocelyn & Victor
11(+0) Liam & Yeremi
"However, you are still racing and I have your next clue", Phil to the teams
We can see that teams also filmed interviews at the Pit Stop monastery. I can see two possible explanations for this. One is that the Pit Stop for the next leg is at the same or a nearby location. Another, and IMHO much more probable, is that teams had to stay for a given period of time before they could continue racing. This gave production time to feed them and film interviews, and the camera crew could get some well deserved rest.
Route info: "Travel by taxi to Cafe dû Turk and ask the person behind the counter for a clue. You have 5,500 Vietnamese Đồng for this leg of the race."
maf:
Racing report
Amazing Race Season 35, Episode 4, "The Day Keeps Rockin’ Here in Vietnam"
Film date: 2023-06-19
The last leg ended with teams meeting Phil at the Trúc lâm phu'o'ng nam Zen monastery, but instead of being checked in to the Pit Stop they each got a new clue. Teams leave the mat in the following order:
1.Steve & Anna Leigh08:56 2.Joel & Garrett 09:00+0:04 3.Rob & Corey 09:12+0:16 4.Todd & Ashlie 09:32+0:36 5.Robbin & Chelsea 09:44+0:48 6.Morgan & Lena 09:48+0:52 7.Joe & Ian 09:49+0:53 8.Greg & John 09:50+0:54 9.Andrea & Malaina 09:51+0:5510.Jocelyn & Victor 09:54+0:5811.Liam & Yeremi 09:56+1:00
The first clue tells them to travel by taxi to Café Tu Điêc.
"The day keeps rockin' here in Vietnam", Corey gets the title
The last few teams are hopeful that they can stay in the race. They are all pretty close and feel that they should be able to beat at least a couple of other teams.
Teams get their clue at the cafe (12km) in the following order:
1(+0) Steve & Anna Leigh
2(+0) Joel & Garrett
3(+0) Rob & Corey
4(+0) Todd & Ashlie
5(+0) Robbin & Chelsea
6(+0) Morgan & Lena
7(+0) Joe & Ian
8(+0) Greg & John
9(+0) Andrea & Malaina
10(+0) Jocelyn & Victor
11(+0) Liam & Yeremi
Detour: Stand or Deliver
In Stand teams need to setup the display for a fish vendor at the Cho Tân an market. The trays are already in place so all they need to do is to fetch fishes from a distributor and arrange it correctly in the trays.
In Deliver teams must pick up four mattresses from a truck and carry them, through a street closed off to cars and trucks, to a nearby hotel and deliver them to a room on the third floor. Of course the mattresses are big, unwieldy, heavy (66lb or 30kg each) and teams may not use the elevator. The hotel is located 275m from the truck (if you take the closest route). The rules said that you could not leave a mattress anywhere along the route. So you could not bring two to the hotel and then bring them up one by one.
Both detours are located in the same area. In fact the delivery route passes in front of the fish stand. Teams seem to make their way on foot from the cafe to the detour (~350m).
Anna Leigh is smart and pick the stand closes to the example.
"This is so cool, I'm collecting octopus, pusses. How do you say that word? Octopie?", Anna Leigh
Joel & Garrett are the first to the deliver task. They pick up two mattresses and start walking, unfortunately in the wrong direction. Eventually they stop and ask another local for directions and are dismayed when they point back the way they came and tell them to walk half a kilometer. On their way back to the hotel they pass the truck and decide to leave one of the mattresses there as they think trying to bring two up the stairs at the hotel may be overdoing it a little.
When Joel & Garrett come back to the truck after having delivered their first mattress they find Todd & Ashlie and Rob & Corey. Joel & Garret realize that the others will just follow them so they offer to lead the way if they can go first.
Steve & Anna Leigh think they are done and call for the judge. But she gives them the thumbs down. After a while they spot that they have misplaced two of the boxes of fish and they try again. This time the judge gives them a big smile, and thumbs down. It takes them a while more until they notice that they have missed the big vat of eels which should be placed next to their stand.
"Eels, they look like snakes and I hate snakes, I don't want anything to do with snakes or eels. But I wasn't gonna stop", Robbin
Joe & Ian and Liam & Yeremi are the only ones who deliver two mattresses in one go.
"Strength and endurance like in an air-conditioned gym and strength and endurance running around the chaotic streets of Vietnam, not the same", Ian
"We were at the absolute edge of our physical exertion", Liam
Joe & Ian bring the next two mattresses one by one while Liam & Yeremi bring the last two in one go. At least they bring them to the hotel and then they bring them up the stairs one by one. Supposedly this was against the rules and they may have received a penalty at the pit stop, but we were not shown this.
"We're obviously in first place right now and we will take no other answer as an answer", Liam knows they are last
"They look like snakes", Lena does not like handling the eels
"You wanna hug? Just kidding", Ashlie after the detour (she is drenched in sweat)
"I know my fish", Victor turns out to know the species names of the fishes they are displaying
The stand side of the detour did not get easier due to the fact that many of the fishes were still alive.
During this task we learn that Liam & Yeremi did not go well together a few years ago but now they want to be there for each other.
Teams complete the detour in the following order:
1(+0) Steve & Anna Leigh, stand
2(+0) Joel & Garrett, deliver
3(+0) Rob & Corey, deliver
4(+0) Todd & Ashlie, deliver
5(+1) Morgan & Lena, stand
6(-1) Robbin & Chelsea, stand
7(+0) Joe & Ian, deliver
8(+0) Greg & John, stand
9(+2) Liam & Yeremi, deliver
10(+0) Jocelyn & Victor, stand
11(-2) Andrea & Malaina, stand
The next clue tells teams to make their way on foot to the Ong Pagoda where they must make a wish. They must write their wish on a piece of paper which is the fastened to a long incense spiral, which is lit and hung from the ceiling. The clue also mentions that they may not run within the temple.
This leg was raced on fathers day and Joel & Garrett are carrying letters from their families. During the post leg interview we get to see them open and read them. Joel gets a bit emotional when reading it and he uses his beard to wipe away his tears.
Teams reach the pagoda (1km) in the following order:
1(+0) Steve & Anna Leigh, wish to be #1 today
2(+0) Joel & Garrett, wish for their families to have it good at home
3(+0) Rob & Corey, Corey wants to see one country for every year of his life
4(+0) Todd & Ashlie, wish for world peace
5(+1) Robbin & Chelsea, wish to win the race
6(+2) Greg & John, wish to win a million $
7(+0) Joe & Ian, wish for 1st place
8(-3) Morgan & Lena, wish to have a great trip
9(+0) Liam & Yeremi, wish to race to the end together
10(+0) Jocelyn & Victor, wish to win the race
11(+0) Andrea & Malaina, wish to win this leg of the race
Route info: Travel by taxi to the Hùng Kings Temple to find your next clue.
Teams reach the Đền thờ các vua Hùng temple (9km) in the following order:
1(+0) Steve & Anna Leigh
2(+0) Joel & Garrett
3(+1) Todd & Ashlie
4(-1) Rob & Corey
5(+0) Robbin & Chelsea
6(+1) Joe & Ian
7(-1) Greg & John
8(+0) Morgan & Lena
9(+0) Liam & Yeremi
10(+0) Jocelyn & Victor
11(+0) Andrea & Malaina
Road block: Who wants to play matchmaker?
The pathways to this temple are lined with thousands of decorated red tiles. Each team must find the one and only tile which matches the photo in their clue. Once they get a thumbs up from the docent they can reunite with their partner and run up to Phil and the mat.
Additional information
For The Non Participant
* Wait in the designated area
For The Participant
* Marked columns indicate the bounds of the search area
* When you think you have found your unique tile, choose any available temple
guide, located near the clue box, and ask them to follow you. Lead the temple
guide to your tile.
* There are 2 temple guides available. Temple guides are first come, first served.
* One guess per attempt at matching your tile. If you are incorrect, the temple guide
will return to the waiting area. You may try again; however, you must go to the
end of any line that may have formed.
You are not allowed on the grass or any areas with plants. Your tile will not be on a
wall that has grass or plants below the tiles.
Many racers think they have found the right tile right away, only to be told no by the judges. It is then they realize that they need to look carefully at the details.
"Man, I'm going nuts", Anna Leigh realize that there are many tiles which look almost the same
"I think I saw Todd's, but I'm not telling him", Anna Leigh
Slightly later Anna Leigh wants to work with Chelsea, but Chelsea is not interested. Anna Leigh is not happy about this.
John searches one area multiple times with increasing desperation before he looks up and realizes there are more than marked area.
Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock):
1(+4)Robbin & Chelsea* (1-2) 2(+1)Todd* & Ashlie (2-1) 3(-2)Steve & Anna Leigh* (1-2) 4(+2)Joe* & Ian (2-1) 5(-1)Rob & Corey* (2-1) 6(+3)Liam* & Yeremi (2-1) 7(+4)Andrea* & Malaina (2-1) 8(-1)Greg & John* (2-1) 9(-7)Joel* & Garrett (2-1)10(-2)Morgan & Lena* (1-2)11(-1)Jocelyn & Victor* (1-2)
Once he get approved Todd starts to look around for his next clue. This allows Steve & Anna Leigh outrun them to the pit stop.
Greg mentions that it is nerve wrecking to see so many teams complete the task and check in. The pressure on the fewer and fewer remaining teams only increases for each team completing the challenge. Specially as they can see the pit stop so there is no taxi trip where you might make up time.
The mat is just there so nobody gets lost. Teams reach Phil in the following order:
1(+0) Robbin & Chelsea, win enough Expedia points for a trip to Madrid, Spain
2(+1) Steve & Anna Leigh
3(-1) Todd & Ashlie
4(+0) Joe & Ian
5(+0) Rob & Corey
6(+0) Liam & Yeremi
7(+0) Andrea & Malaina
8(+0) Greg & John
9(+0) Joel & Garrett
10(+0) Morgan & Lena
11(+0) Jocelyn & Victor, are eliminated
The first five teams are all together at the mat so we can assume they were fairly close. After that teams 6 to 8 are also there together.
"We have no regrets and every moment was super super special", Jocelyn
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