Group A: Leg 1 → Leg 2 → Leg 3 →
Group B: Leg 1 → Leg 2 → Leg 3 →
Leg 25.02 (Group A) – “Minura ko yata yung bata. Sorry po.”
The second Leg of the Race begins as teams fly via Bangkok to Siem Reap, Cambodia!
Teams will begin the Leg at the entrance to Royal Independence Gardens in Siem Reap. For the first time ever, each team will depart the Pit Start alone, three minutes apart.
These beautiful woven decorations are part of the celebration of Cambodian New Year. Teams will choose one of these decorations on the bridge and then search Royal Independence Gardens for one with a matching lantern. When they confirm they have a pair of matching lanterns, teams will receive the next clue.
The Tonle Sap is a large freshwater lake in Southeast Asia, and one of the world’s richest inland fishing grounds. It has been designated as a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1997 due to its high biodiversity. It is an important source of food and livelihood for millions of Cambodians. Today, teams will get to experience daily life on this unique and important land for the Cambodian people.
First, teams must find this local bookstore where they will purchase school supplies and then deliver them to this floating primary school on the Tonle Sap.
Once they have delivered the supplies, teams will work with a student to learn how to say different animals in Khmer.
Teams will then be quizzed and will get the next clue once they have passed.
During the dry season, the water levels of the lake recede and the communities of the lake must adapt to the ever changing ecosystem. families use the opportunity for other agricultural activities. In this Detour, teams will decide which activity they will do to help out the Tonle Sap family.
In Laying in the Sun, teams head to the drying area, where the receding water has exposed sections of the land. They will help lay out prawns or shrimp in rows on large mats or trays. They will need to ensure the prawns are spaced correctly and handled with care. Once they’ve completed the task and the local expert approves, they’ll receive the next clue.
In Meant for the Water, teams head to a local fisherman’s area where they will need to help repair shrimp traps or fishing nets. They’ll have to work with the tools provided to patch or knot areas of the net that have worn or been damaged. Once they’ve completed a certain number of repairs, they’ll receive the next clue.
That clue is the Road Block: Who can lend a hand?
In the dry season, as the water levels decrease, the fish are concentrated in smaller areas, making it easier for fishermen to catch them. For this Road Block, in this shallow water, teams will use a handheld fish trap to catch the fish that hide themselves in the mud. When teams have enough fish, they will receive the next clue.
That clue directs teams to Bayon Temple.
Here, teams will learn one of the world’s oldest existing martial arts – bokator. The term “bokator” means “pounding a lion,” referencing a legend where a Khmer warrior defeated a lion using this fighting technique. It’s a highly technical martial art, involving a mix of striking, joint locks, and grappling, along with the use of traditional weapons.
For this task, teams must learn and properly demonstrate a sequence of four moves in order to receive the next clue.
Teams must now head to the iconic and legendary Angkor Wat where they will collect an offering and then search the sprawling complex for a monk to give it to.
They will know it is the correct monk as he will be near a Race flag. If teams give the offering to the wrong monk, they cannot take the offering back and must go back to the main gate to collect another one.
The monk will hand teams the next clue revealing the Pit Stop: Terrace of the Elephants.
The first team to check-in here will win P200,000 courtesy of Shell V-Power Nitro+.
The last team to check-in here WILL be the first All-Star eliminated from the Race!
“Director’s” Commentary
I think this is a great Leg! Some recycling of course, but what I like about this Leg is how it features the Tonle Sap in dry season. Usually, any TAR visit will of course highlight the unique ecosystem and community of a floating village. Really, like an entire city floating in water.
I actually never thought of the lake in dry season. But I came across it in Google scouting for this season of TARPHDME. So I thought it would be perfect to highlight this time around. TARPHDME has of course visited Tonle Sap before. Twice, actually! But never in dry season.
Let’s rewind to the start of the Leg first. Google scouting showed me these wonderful decorations which I learned were for Cambodian New Year. Having teams carrying the big decorations around the park and searching for its match should be a good, challenging task to start the Leg.
And also, we have a new Pit Stop release strategy now. Instead of having teams depart in pairs, which we hope did not encourage alliances lolol, we have teams departing separately, three minutes apart. Basically similar to what TARAu seems to be doing these days. And it’s three minutes apart because if we do five minutes, then it would be one-hour difference between the first and last teams. And I think that’s too much of a difference to naturally overcome.
Honestly, having teams depart all together like a Starting Line at the beginning of a Leg was something I considered too. But I dunno if we’re at that point yet.
That said, this first task can help be a sort of equalizer for this new Pit Stop procedure. So in a real TAR, it would be something to try out and hopefully refine as we go along.
Next up, the school supplies task is just something to give back to the wonderful people we work with on the show of course. And having teams learning from local childrens is also a great TAR task to have.
The Detour fully embraces showing Tonle Sap in the dry season. I think seeing teams running around on the dry ground in the middle of the homes built on tall stilts should be some stunning visuals. And both tasks are good tasks to get teams interacting with the local peoples and experience their daily lives.
The Road Block is also a nice way to highlight the difference between dry season and a full lake. And also a unique task too and another one to have teams immerse in daily life.
The bokator task is recycled from TARAu7 of course. And while it was a Detour there, I think having it as an Active Route Info task here would be great. Especially at the end of the Leg, it can provide some potential tension and frustration for the teams. It did on TARAu7. So we hope that can happen here too! Lolol
Of course we have to visit Angkor Wat on any visit to Siem Reap. And this task from TARAu7 is simple enough to get teams visiting and experiencing the stunning location.
Finally, the Pit Stop at Terrace of the Elephants is a great location as well.
Overall, I think this can be a great Leg. Showing a different side of the Tonle Sap. But still a great way to highlight and feature daily life in Cambodia!
And P.S., yes, one Leg/group per week. I need TARPHDME to last me through most of the year lolololol