The Amazing Race US Finally Returns to the Philippines!

Well not really. Not yet, at least. But I was in the Amazing Race wishlist mood today and I dug up my ideas for locations and tasks for what would be the first two Legs of a TARUS season. Definitely a wishlist/dream route/fantasy-kind of thing. But you never know. (Though, please credit me when using my ideas, thank you Bertram and Co. lol) =]

Let’s start the Race somewhere other than Los Angeles. And since my route heads to Asia first, San Francisco International Airport is a perfect alternative as a gateway to Asia.

And our Starting Line is at the Admiral Nimitz House on Yerba Buena Island right in the middle of San Francisco Bay. It provides a beautiful and stunning start to the Race with the teams being brought to the Starting Line on speedboats or even yachts as a nod to the recent America’s Cup. The brand new Eastern Span of the Bay Bridge also rises up behind the Starting Line.

For the teams’ Starting Line task, they will need to wade through a field of national flags from all over the world to find the national flag of their first destination: Manila, Philippines.

Phil would give them only a simple clue, like “It has the same colors as the American flag” or “It has a sun.” They’d have to carefully bring it back to Phil in exchange for their first clue and plane tickets.

The quicker you find the flag, the closer you’ll be sitting toward the front of the plane. All teams will be on the same Philippine Airlines flight from SFO to Manila International Airport.

But, since this first Leg is pretty full, a Starting Line task can be omitted.

Teams will arrive in Manila before dawn. They must hurry to the bus terminal to catch the frequently departing buses that will take them to the Banaue Rice Terraces. The bus ride will allow for spectacular views of the Banaue Rice Terraces.

After the all-day bus ride, once teams arrive in Ifugao, they will need to sign up for one of three minibuses departing tomorrow morning at 6am, 6:30am and 7am. First bus takes 4 teams, second bus takes 3 teams and last bus takes 4 teams.

Those minibuses will take teams to the Hanging Coffins in Sagada, Mountain Province where they will find the first Road Block of the Race.


Who’s ready to hang out like a coffin?
In this Road Block, teams must make their way to Echo Valley where they will climb a rock face to retrieve their next clue before rappelling back down to their partners.

The next clue directs teams to Bontoc Provincial Plaza where they’ll surprisingly find the second Road Block of the Leg.


Who has a hard head?
For this Road Block, one team member must dress up in traditional costume and dance a traditional Kalinga/Igorot dance known as the Banga, or Pot, Dance. Balancing a clay pot on their head, teams must join in with the locals performing the dance. If they can dance the full routine for 3 minutes without dropping or breaking their pot, they can receive their next clue.

Teams can now head to the Pit Stop at the Maligcong Rice Terraces.

For an extra task, at the entrance to the Rice Terraces, teams must pack one 20kg sack of rice and carry it with them to the Pit Stop.

But, OH! This Leg is not over yet! It is a double/super-Leg and teams must continue Racing. There is no elimination and no penalty for the last team, but the first place team will get the two Express Passes.

Or it could be a regular ol’ Leg. It’s pretty full. But that’s why it’d be awesome to have a LONG, difficult Leg. Remember those days?

Teams hop on a bus toward Tuguegarao City where they’ll then transfer onto tricycle to take them to the Callao Caves. They will then have to search the caves for the cluebox.

And that cluebox contains their first Detour, Chickens or Pigs. Teams must decide which animal they want to transport and deliver.


In Chickens, teams head to this chicken farm where they must catch 15 chickens and load them into a holding case on a bike. After also picking up a case of three dozen eggs, teams will choose three addresses and peddle themselves and the chickens and eggs to the homes, delivering 5 chickens and one dozen eggs each, for their next clue. However, if any of the eggs break, teams will have to go back and pick up a fresh crate of eggs.


In Pigs, teams head to a piggery where they must choose two pigs and guide them from the pen and load them onto a special bike. Teams will choose two addresses and peddle themselves and the pigs to the home where they will unload one pig each and guide them to their new homes. Once the pigs are safely in the pens, teams will receive their next clue.


INTERSECTION! (If there was an elimination in the first Leg.)
Teams head to a nearby pot maker where they must team up with another team for an Intersection. For this Intersection, teams must load 50 clay pots known as burnays onto horse-drawn bamboo karitons, or carts and deliver them to the provided address. If they break more than 5 pots, they will receive a time penalty for each broken pot.


Teams are now separated and it’s time for the Road Block. In a modified Switchback to the infamous Detour from TAR5, teams must use a carabao, or water ox, to plow a rice field until the plow hooks five colored Race flags. Teams must use the plow to unearth the flags. If they use anything other than the plow, they will receive a 15 minute penalty for each incorrectly unearthed flag.

When teams correctly find the Flags, they’ll be handed their next clue.


And that clue tells teams to head to the Pit Stop, the Cagayan Provincial Capitol building in Tuguegarao City. The last team to check in WILL be eliminated.

Whew. That was long. That’s a lot of stuff for two Legs. There’s a lot of Amazing Race Philippines influence in a lot of the taks. And definitely too crazy for contemporary TAR to even attempt, sadly. But anyway, it was a lot of fun to come up with. Where can I sign-up to be a challenge producer for TAR?

And oh, after Tuguegarao, they stay in the Philippines (THREE LEGS!) and they head to Legazpi for Jig or Pig 4.0!

8 thoughts on “The Amazing Race US Finally Returns to the Philippines!

  1. ths is true, they are coming Manila by Episode 10-11 unfortunately only the switchback is what you are correct that will rehappen again although I a m not a fan of switchback, there are lots of places to go in Philippines but why settle only for already used location.

    1. Hi! Yes, they will have a Switchback, but it won’t be in the same location I think. Season 5 was in Laguna, but this season, they only went as far as Cavite. =(
      So both Legs that will be in the Philippines will only take place in Manila and Cavite. It would be nice if next time, they go a little farther north, hehe.

      1. my suggestion to this is some of our provincial government should pitch their thoughts of hosting this event to their place just like in amazing race asia where a city will host for the benefit of tourism, unfortunately none of them knows this and maybe they have no time to waste money for the promotion cause as far as I know AR US is only paying for the players and not the GAMEs, thats why China, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam are mostly used

        1. Yeah I think a lot of countries’ tourism departments actually reach out to TAR to visit. I think TAR still does pay for the locations though and all the people involved. But yeah, hopefully TARUS still survives for many seasons to come and they go to the Philippines again, maybe even TAR26. (They always go to other countries season after season, why not the Philippines right? hehe)

          1. thats why SURVIVOR US is back to back to back in the Philippines (Camarines-2 seasons and Cagayan-2 seasons) because of their like to promote tourist arrivals which could have been envied by our SEA neighbor countries

            1. I hope next season they comeback and visit the most popular historical places like COrregidor, Bataan DM Monument, Fil-American Cemetery in BGC, Lapu Lapu or Mactan’s Magellan’s Cross(much preferred because this is where our country was first founded) aside from Rizal Park which already been used and already known worldwide.

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