Topic: TAR 37 Maps

[Neobie]

Leg 1: Hong Kong!

I think there might have been a cable car ride that was edited out after the Buddha. We see teams start the leg in blue taxis (that serve only Lantau Island where the Buddha is on), but miraculously switch to red cabs (and new drivers) on the way to the Central Ferry Piers.
In the shot where Jonathan/Ana ask their driver for his phone to look up ferry schedules, you see them in Tung Chung town, driving past the Silveri Hotel. That only makes sense if they took the cable car down from the Buddha, to the station around the corner from the Silveri.
The cable car usually starts at 10am, but the show could potentially have got special dispensation. Alternatively, they could have been directed to take a cab down to Tung Chung to switch cabs.

In other news:

• Carson/Jack's taxi was going the right way (on the Tung Chung Eastern Interchange roundabout turning onto the North Lantau Highway) when they split from Jonathan/Ana, which presumably turned off onto Yi Tung Rd for some reason.
• Melinda/Erika were headed the right way on foot from the Xiqu Centre to West Kowloon Art Park, but (i) there's a ton of construction in the area making navigation a pain; and (ii) it was so foggy that they couldn't see "the tallest building" (the ICC, tallest in Hong Kong and 13th in the world) - it was right in the shot but blocked by the rain clouds!

[Xoruz]

Alternatively, they could have been directed to take a cab down to Tung Chung to switch cabs.

Per Scott & Lori, the latter happened.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1mFWpRDKoL3fc0DKFAo2RqbNfklcyfw4&entry=yt&ll=28.301494764328535%2C177.76483930000006&z=3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drv_i5hDwp4

Upon arrival in Hong Kong, travel by taxi to the Ngong Ping 360 cable car station in Tung Chung. Then ride the cable car to Tian Tan Buddha. The cable car opens at 7am. You should use Red Urban or Blue Lantau taxis for travel in Hong Kong. When you arrive at cable car station, settle up with your taxi and release your taxi. There will be.a short safety briefing before boarding cable car, first come, first served. Cable car operation is weather dependent.

Due to inclement weather the Cable Car is closed. Travel by Blue Lantau Taxi company to the Tian Tan Buddha. When you arrive, hold onto your taxi. Only Blue Lantau Taxis will take you to the Buddha.

Take your Blue Lantau taxi to Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car station in Tung Chung.

[Neobie]

Thanks Xoruz! I'll update the maps when we have the Pit Start location as well.

Looks like the teams were interviewed on top of the Wan Chai Ferry Pier on Hong Kong Island, which is strangely not near the Pit Stop, the Pit Stop hotel in Tsimshatsui, or any other location on this leg at all. I wonder why they brought the teams there?

[Photo credit: Brett Kwong]

[Neobie]

The more interesting stuff happened at the start of the leg in Hong Kong (see updated maps above), once it got to Osaka things were pretty straight-forward.

Teams were released at the Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade, on an overhead bridge that also served as the Pit Stop for TAR Norge 1.

Skywards Travel actually has six branches in Hong Kong, but the first one that pops up on Google Maps is the one in Tsuen Wan (not Sheung Wan as subtitled on the show). It's only 15min in the wrong direction, but added with the time searching in the wrong place, it's enough to put you into last place. Courtney/Jasmin were at the Cable TV Tower in Tsuen Wan; not only were they looking for the wrong Skywards Travel, they were in the wrong spot in the neighbourhood (about 2km away)!

[Neobie]

Leg 3: Kyoto. Teams were released on the south side of Osaka Castle Park; maps in the previous post have been updated.
The bullet train teams took was just a tiny hop - the journey takes just 14min!

[Neobie]

Leg 4: Central Bali. A few bits of trivia this leg:
- Teams were brought back to Osaka to start the leg in Utsubo Park.
- The waterfall stock footage shown in the episode was the Tegenungan Waterfall, a good 15km/9mi away as the crow flies.
- The "circle" that teams ran on the way to the Pit Stop was about 550m/600yd, about a 5min run.

[Neobie]

Leg 5: South Kuta. A relatively straightforward leg.
- It's 550m/600yd one-way for the coconut Detour, between the Pandawa Lighthouse and Warung van Ronden.
- The final run to the Pit Stop is about 630m/690yd straight down the beach.

[Maanca]

Was this the same Ubud monkey forest from 22? I could still hear Caroline or Jennifer's "MONKEYS!" watching it.

[Neobie]

😂 Yep, that's the one!

[Neobie]

Leg 6: Dubai (sorry, a little behind due to my own travels!)
- Teams started the leg in the Grand Hyatt right next to the Pit Stop; we see Alyssa/Josiah walk past the Grand Club Lounge to their taxi
- There must have been a hidden jeep ride from where teams left their taxis at the gate of the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve to the overnight camp, the two are 2.4km/1.5mi apart
- Not sure where teams started their camel rides; there are roads and fences between the overnight stay and the airstrip
- Atlantis the Royal is within spitting distance of Aquaventure Waterpark, where Mika refused to go down the water slide

[Neobie]

Leg 7: Sofia Province in Bulgaria
- Carson/Jack found their bearings at Motel Ihtiman in the town of Ihtiman, meaning their trip to Negushevo took 139km/87mi instead of 35km/22mi
- Google Maps says this would have taken them "only" an hour extra (if they didn't get lost further), instead of the three hours that Carson/Jack assumed
- The "altar" for the kukeri offering looks like it was in someone's backyard; it wasn't a landmark labelled on Google
- Sharp-eyed teams may have spotted the W-Turn driving into Sarantsi if they approached from the right angle
- In Woodstack, teams had to carry the wood for 275m/300yd one-way
- Redditor u/KontosIN found the hay stacks visible on Google imagery here

[Neobie]

Leg 8: Sofia.

Jonathan/Ana made a series of mistakes trying to get from Sofia University to the Museum of Socialist Art:
- Bus 1 does go to the Museum, but doesn't pass by Sofia University
- Instead, Jonathan/Ana jump onto Trolleybus 1, which goes a completely different route
- They jump on the trolleybus, which takes them further away from the Museum
- They're told to get off after three stops, and start wandering around for 1km/1200yd, back to where they started at the University
- They get directions standing at the entrance to St Kliment Ohridski Station, which has a direct metro service to the Museum
- However, they forego the metro and instead walk a further 240m/260yd to take Bus 280 (right back outside of Lake Ariana), which Carson/Jack and Han/Holden eventually take as well

Other trivia for the leg:
- It was a pretty long trek for Brett/Mark from Lake Ariana to the klek shop on foot: 2.5km/1.5mi if they don't make a wrong turn
- Lots of doubling back on this leg; teams paying attention might have an advantage on the way back
- There's a slight shortcut from the Central Military Club to the Pit Stop which would have teams coming in from behind Phil (280m/310yd instead of 430m/470yd), but only Erika/Melinda found it (kind of, they took a separate detour on the way to the Cathedral)

[Neobie]

Leg 9: Naples
- While heading to the Pulcinella, Han/Holden and Jonathan/Ana miss an important turn into Port'Alba (it's a covered arcade that doesn't look like a street for a short stretch), sending them off-course for about 1km/1100yd before they finally ask for directions again.
- The mandolin was closer to the grocery delivery than the mozzarella task, meaning Jonathan/Ana saved 800m/900yd over the other teams, helping them catapult back into the lead.

[Neobie]

Leg 10: Alsace
- Brett/Mark mentioned in an exit interview that their train was delayed (yay Deutsche Bahn) and they had to spend the night in a "border town" (Edit: This should be Offenburg, just across the border from Strasbourg)
- It's not difficult getting to Scherwiller, but teams choosing For the Birds would have had a harder time navigating to the task location than those choosing Out to Dry, which was located in the centre of town
- It is extremely complicated getting to the Pit Stop without a map on hand, with many paths seemingly headed in the right direction but ending in a dead-end; no wonder everyone got lost!
- Brett/Mark are shown to drive into a "no entry" lane on their way to the Pit Stop, reserved for authorised vehicles and bicycles only

[Neobie]

Slight correction: We see teams on the SWEG train getting into Strasbourg, which matches up with the first RS4 train running from Offenburg (via Kehl, 06:35-07:04). So teams must have spent the night either in Offenburg (more likely, with a mainline station) or Kehl.

Separately, jumping back to Leg 9: Teams had their Pit Stop interviews in Villa Porfidia in Recale, a good 34km/21mi away from the Pit Stop in Naples. (If we trust the Expedia booking scenes, teams stayed at the Hotel Romeo in Naples.)

[Neobie]

Leg 11: Porto, lots of getting lost this leg!
- I couldn't find the Pit Start, but teams took the A35 back into Strasbourg to start the leg.
- Based on spoilers and a shot in the preview, there was an unaired stop at Casa da Pereira in Sabrosa, where Magellan was born.
- Taking the "scenic" IP4 instead of the main highway A4, Jonathan/Ana added only 4km to their journey; Google Maps says it'd take only 8min extra.
- Josiah/Alyssa ended up on the wrong side of the tracks getting to Campanhã Station, on the side of the bus terminal instead; so close yet so far!
- It wouldn't have been hard near where they crashed to ask for directions; a simple U-turn would get them back on track.
- Not sure where Josiah/Alyssa wandered off to while looking for parking, but there's a shot of them passing by the Estádio do Dragão going north, the completely wrong direction from the train station!

[Neobie]

Leg 12: Miami to round out this season!
- Not sure why production had teams double back to Istanbul to get to Miami.
- The teams announced that they were arriving at Miami Beach Marina after the speedboat but were actually at the docks next to Maurice Gibb Memorial Park.
- There was absolutely no reason why teams should attempt the Scramble in any other order.

Edit: And .kmz files with all the locations from the 37 seasons! (Give or take a few places we couldn't find...)