Introduction → Meet the Teams → Race Tracker → Leg 1A → Leg 1B → Leg 2 → Leg 3 → Leg 4 → Leg 5 → Leg 6 → Leg 7 → Leg 8 → Leg 9 → Leg 10 → Leg 11 → Leg 12 → Leg 13
Leg 20.13 – “I hope winning is as delicious as this longganisa.”
This is really is it! The Final Leg begins as teams make their way to Seoul Incheon in order to catch a flight back to Manila. Upon arrival at New Manila International Airport, teams will quickly hop onto a charter flight to their final destination province, Ilocos Sur!
Upon arrival in Vigan, teams will find their next clue on the runway.
Teams won’t be staying on solid ground for long as they will now head back up in the air to perform a tandem skydive over Vigan!
Once they finally set foot back on Earth, teams must now choose a brand new 2020 Kia Rio and drive themselves to Santa Maria Church in Santa Maria, Ilocos Sur where they will find the next clue.
The Church of Our Lady of the Assumption was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993. And among the fertile farmlands of Santa Maria, sugarcane is one of its principal crops.
For this task, teams will learn how to make the sweet treat known as balicucha. Teams will first extract enough sugarcane juice using a manual press similar to that powered by this carabao. Then, the juice is cooked until it caramelizes. When ready, the syrupy molasses quickly hardens and from here, teams will need to repeatedly loop and stretch the hardened blocks until they can be pinched and formed into the proper familiar shapes. When they have correctly made 60 pieces of balicucha, they will receive the next clue.
Teams must now drive themselves to Narvacan Outdoor Adventure Hub in Narvacan, Ilocos Sur.
Here, teams must scale the Philippines’ first Via Ferrate climbing route to reach the top of this cliff. Teams will then scan the beach below for a pattern only visible from above which they must memorize. They will then do a Tyrolean traverse and zip line back down to the bottom where they will find the Road Block: Who can go off?
For this Road Block, both team members must first hop onto an off-road buggy. The team member performing the Road Block will drive the ATV and must now replicate the pattern they had to memorize from above. Their partners, who will be riding in the passenger seat, are forbidden from helping their teammate in any way during the task.
What teams do not know is there are flags along the sandy beach course with the countries they’ve visited on the Race printed on them. The pattern they must draw with their ATVs corresponds to the order they visited the countries on the Race. If the Road Block performer can see the flags and realize what they represent, they may use these clues to guide them in completing the task. But again, their partners CANNOT in any way help them. And that includes pointing out the country flags in the sand.
After the Road Block, teams must now drive themselves to the town of Santa and find this blacksmith.
Here, teams must learn how to correctly make a bolo knife in the traditional way from this area. Teams must forge the blade from red-hot irons and then attach its handle in order to receive the next clue.
Teams can now drive themselves to Plaza Salcedo in Vigan.
After parking their Kia Rios in the marked parking area, teams must then choose a table and identify different types of longganisa to receive their next clue.
That clue directs teams to RG Jar Factory in the Pagburnayan District where they will find the Final Task of the Race.
Teams must search hundreds of burnay jars showing drawings, locations, words, team names and more for ones that represent each Leg of the Race. For each Leg, teams will need to find one burnay jar for each of the following details:
-Leg Number
-Country
-Country Flag
-Pit Stop Location
-Eliminated Team
-Their own placement on that Leg
Once teams think they’ve found all 78 total burnay jars, they must load them onto a horse-drawn cart and deliver the jars to a marked shop on Calle Crisologo. They must safely stack the six burnay jars for each of the 13 Legs in a row.
If teams break any jars along the way, they must deliver the surviving jars and then return to the Pagburnayan District to create replacements for each broken jar. Only then can they be allowed to retrieve replacement burnay jars which they can then add to their stacks on Calle Crisologo.
Once their 13 rows of burnay jars are correct and approved, they will be given the final clue.
And that final clue tells teams to make their way on foot to Bantay Bell Tower in Bantay, Ilocos Sur… the FINISH LINE!
The first team to check-in here will win The Amazing Race Philippines vs The World and all these prizes! (Or local currency equivalent, if they choose!) WOWOWOW!
“Director’s” Commentary
So this ended up being a last minute Leg as by the end of planning for this route, I realized I didn’t have a Final Leg ready to go. So I went Google scouting around the Philippines, but just couldn’t quickly find anything to fill up a Final Leg with.
Then I remembered Vigan and decided I could slap together something from the historic location. And this Final Leg ended up alright I think.
I saw that one of the only two locations for skydiving in the Philippines is in Vigan. So why not have that at the start of the Leg. It fits well with the charter flights arriving at Vigan Airport. It’s a simple task to get the adrenaline pumping on the Final Leg.
This Leg will involve some driving as a necessity. We could have them taking local transportation or have drivers. But that’s definitely something that can be switched out if needed.
Balicucha is a great, tedious task to have here. It actually reminds me of the fortune cookies from TAR30’s finale.
The rock climbing in Narvacan is interesting. I’m not sure how long the climbing will take. And how well it will play out on a Final Leg. But it’s something to do here. There’s also other activities to do here at the adventure park, like the ATVs and stuff. So we could swap the rock climbing out for something else. Though I like its physicality and connection to the Road Block.
The Road Block is very simple. Not sure if it’s interesting to a viewer. It’s interesting in my head though. lol The catch really is that there’s clues in the sand if the teams can see them. And the temptation for their partner to help their teammate should be great tension for the task.
Bolo knife-making in Santa is another good, tedious task to fill out the Leg. As is the longanisa.
But the highlight is definitely the burnay Final Task. As you can read in the Race Tracker, you’ll see a scenario I would picture seeing with this task. We did a similar Final Task with the Final Leg in Baguio on Season 8. The extra challenge here is the cart on cobblestone and then having to replace broken jars.
Having teams run to the Finish Line is great. And Bantay Bell Tower will be a stunning Finish Line location.
Overall, this has the makings for an epic Leg! And it has been an epic season!