TAR 35, Recap Leg 3.1, 10/11/23

 

Welcome to Leg 3! Last time, on You’ll Never Change Standings That Much If You Stay in the Same City, 12 teams continued racing through Thailand. There was pressure and many lost shoes at the Roadblock, where Idaho Dad Bod managed to leave their fanny pack. Retail Love had a Detour option made just for them, and they once again took first place, while mother/daughter Elizabeth and Iliana traveled to the Detour they didn’t want, but did it anyway and were eliminated. Who will be eliminated. . . next? (click for more)

Arrival at the pit stop last episode:

1st – Jocelyn and Victor, Team Retail Love

2nd – Rob and Corey, Team ASL Family

3rd – Greg and John, Team Cat Dads

4th – Morgan and Lena, Team Business Sisters

5th – Todd and Ashlie, Team Comeback Couple

6th – Steve and Anna Leigh, Team Texas Heat

7th – Joe and Ian, Team EnGaygement

8th – Liam and Yeremi, Team Military Bros

9th – Joel and Garrett, Team Idaho Dad Bod

10th – Andrea and Malaina, Team Philly Jawns

11th – Robbin and Chelsea, Team Cougar Mom

Suan Sampran, Sam Phran, Thailand

5:24 AM Jocelyn/Victor (1st) – who have two daughters that they are racing for.

Clue: Make your way to Thailand Tour and Travel 2 in order to book tickets to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam! Once there, make your way to the bus station and take the bus to Can Tho in the Mekong Delta Region and search the docks for your next clue.

The Amazing Yellow Line shows us how to fly from Thailand to Vietnam.

5:54 AM Rob/Corey (2nd) – and Corey lets us know with shirtless pictures that he’s done two backpacking trips around the world. Keep reminding us of this, Corey.

6:41 AM Greg/John (3rd) – John lets us know that he’s been to Vietnam. Don’t think this ends up being super important.

7:08 AM Morgan/Lena (4th) – and we are reminded that their Express Pass must be used by the end of Leg 4, but they may use it this leg if the opportunity presents itself.

7:29 AM Todd/Ashlie (5th)

7:49 AM Steve/Anna Leigh (6th)

8:30 AM Joe/Ian (7th)

8:45 AM Liam/Yeremi (8th) – who remind us about their strained brotherly relationship.

9:00 AM Joel/Garrett (9th) – who decide to walk to the Travel Agency. I don’t think it’s walkable though?

9:01 AM Andrea/Malaina (10th)

9:08 AM Robbin/Chelsea (11th)

So teams make their way to Thailand Tour and Travel 2. Teams arrive in the following order:

1- Jocelyn/Victor – who find that the first direct flight from Bangkok is at 1:45 pm. So they book it as do. . .

2- Rob/Corey – and Rob reminds us he probably hasn’t used a travel agent since his honeymoon. And. . .

3- Greg/John – And . . .

4- Morgan/Lena – who are the last team to get on that flight.

5- Todd/Ashlie – who discover the 1:45 pm is no longer available, so they book the next available at 7:55 pm, as do . . .

6- Steve/Anna Leigh – Or so they think.

7- Joe/Ian – these two go to a different agent then the previous six teams, who all used the same two agents. These guys talk to an agent who gets them a flight on a different airline departing at 1:50 pm.

8- Liam/Yeremi – go to the agents that the first seven teams did and get on the 7:55, as do. . .

9- Andrea/Malaina – and then. . .

10- Joel/Garrett – because they walked, they got here later, and showed up as Joe and Ian finished with their agent, who get them on the 1:50 pm flight.

11- Robbin/Chelsea – just book the 7:55.

Teams now take their taxis and make their way to Suvarnabhumi International Airport. Teams drive and arrive at BKK in the following order:

1- Jocelyn/Victor

2- Rob/Corey

3- Greg/John

4- Morgan/Lena

5- Todd/Ashlie

6- Steve/Anna Leigh

7- Joe/Ian

8- Liam/Yeremi

9- Joel/Garrett

10- Andrea/Malaina

11- Robbin/Chelsea

Teams now head to their flights. (Toyouke: "I missed flight drama.")

Flight #1, VietTravel Airlines VU130, departs 1:45 PM

1) Jocelyn/Victor

2) Rob/Corey

3) Greg/John

4) Morgan/Lena

But when they get to the gate, there is no airplane, and they discover their flight has been delayed until 3 pm.

Flight #2, VietJet Air VJ804, departs 1:50 PM

1) Joe/Ian

2) Joel/Garrett

Flight #3, VietTravel Airlines, departs 7:55 PM

1) Todd/Ashlie

2) Steve/Anna Leigh

3) Liam/Yeremi

4) Andrea/Malaina

5) Robbin/Chelsea

So the Amazing Yellow Line takes us from Bangkok to Vietnam in a less than predicted order, and teams arrive at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in the following order:

1- Joe/Ian

2- Joel/Garrett

3- Jocelyn/Victor

4- Greg/John

5- Rob/Corey

6- Morgan/Lena

7- Todd/Ashlie

8- Liam/Yeremi

9- Andrea/Malaina

10- Steve/Anna Leigh

11- Robbin/Chelsea

Teams now take taxis to the Bus Station, where they will catch night busses to Can Tho. Teams arrive at the Bus Station in the following order:

1- Joe/Ian

2- Joel/Garrett

3- Morgan/Lena

4- Jocelyn/Victor

5- Greg/John

6- Rob/Corey

7- Todd/Ashlie

8- Liam/Yeremi

9- Andrea/Malaina

10- Steve/Anna Leigh

11- Robbin/Chelsea

Teams board their busses to Can Tho. (Toyouke: "It is technically a sleeper bus, but not everyone is sized for a Vietnamese sleeper bus. This will be relevant later.")

Bus #1, departs 6:30 pm

1) Joe/Ian

Bus #2, departs 7:00 pm

1) Joel/Garrett

Bus #3, departs 7:30 pm

1) Morgan/Lena

2) Jocelyn/Victor

3) Greg/John

4) Rob/Corey

Bus #4, departs 1:00 am

1) Todd/Ashlie

2) Liam/Yeremi

3) Andrea/Malaina

4) Steve/Anna Leigh

5) Robbin/Chelsea

Teams arrive four hours later in Can Tho. Once they arrive, they make their way to Ninh Kieu Wharf to get their next clue. Teams find the clue box in the following order:

1- Joe/Ian

2- Joel/Garrett

3- Rob/Corey

4- Jocelyn/Victor

5- Morgan/Lena

6- Greg/John

7- Todd/Ashlie

8- Steve/Anna Leigh

9- Liam/Yeremi

10- Robbin/Chelsea

11- Andrea/Malaina

Teams discover that Hours of Operation are in play, and the wharf doesn’t open until 5:45 am. There are three boxes with various departure times for individual sampans to travel to Cai Rang Floating Market. Teams choose a departure time. Teams select the following times for themselves:

5:45 Departure

1) Joe/Ian

2) Joel/Garrett

3) Rob/Corey

4) Steve/Anna Leigh – who lucked out that somehow a 5:45 departure made it into one of the other boxes. (Toyouke: "And that no one else looked for it.")

6:00 Departure

1) Jocelyn/Victor

2) Morgan/Lena

3) Greg/John

4) Todd/Ashlie

6:15 Departure

1) Liam/Yeremi

2) Robbin/Chelsea

3) Andrea/Malaina

Teams are allowed on the wharf at their specific time, and get their clue from the attendant in the following order:

1- Joe/Ian

2- Steve/Anna Leigh

3- Joel/Garett

4- Rob/Corey

5- Todd/Ashlie

6- Morgan/Lena

7- Greg/John

8- Jocelyn/Victor

9- Robbin/Chelsea

10- Liam/Yeremi – who remind us that their flight had very little sleep, as they arrived in Can Tho at 5 am, and had to do this task an hour later.

11- Andrea/Malaina

And we FINALLY have our first task of the leg.

In this task, teams must take their sampan into Cai Rang Floating Market and deliver the preloaded dragonfruit, tangerines and golden melons to the marked vendors. They must hand over the fruit individually, and only two sampans are allowed at each boat at a time. Once a fruit is unloaded, teams receive a piece of a clue from each vendor. Once they have all three, they can piece the clue together and instruct their driver to take them to the next clue at Pier 20.

After much fruit hauling, teams complete the task in the following order:

1- Morgan/Lena -who, after trying to deliver two different fruits and ending up in lines, decide to use their Express Pass. They proceed directly to the next clue. (Toyouke: "I don't think this was a terrible idea, knowing how much trouble other teams had with having to wait in line.")

2- Joel/Garrett

3- Steve/Anna Leigh

4- Rob/Corey

5- Todd/Ashlie

6- Joe/Ian – who forget to get their clue from the tangerine vendor, and the other teams won’t let them dock to get their clue. Serves them right for not doing their due diligence. (Toyouke: "I wouldn't let them in either.")

7- Liam/Yeremi

8- Jocelyn/Victor

9- Greg/John – who, in the luck of the sampan driver draw, got the one who insisted on following all the one way signs and took the longest to pull up at any of the fruit boats.

10- Robbin/Chelsea

11- Andrea/Malaina

Teams piece together their clues, which instruct them to travel by sampan to Pier 20. Teams arrive at Pier 20 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

Teams open their clues and we get the third Detour Clue.

DETOUR:

Paper OR Plastic

*Paper: Teams make their way by taxi to Sau Hoai Rice Noodle Factory. One there, teams must use liquid rice flour to make 12 rice paper wraps. Once all 12 are approved by the proctor, teams get their next clue. Only 5 stoves are available, and they are first come first serve.

*Plastic: Teams make their way by taxi to Thanh Van Customizing. Once there, teams must choose a piece of vinyl to cut, heat and apply to a section of a motorcycle. Once approved by the proctor, teams get their next clue.

1- Joel/Garrett choose Paper

2- Morgan/Lena choose Plastic – because Morgan says she’s done this before.

3- Steve/Anna Leigh choose Paper

4- Rob/Corey choose Paper

5- Todd/Ashlie choose Paper

6- Joe/Ian choose Plastic – because Ian used to “help” his dad do this. Basically, he stood behind him and watched.

7- Liam/Yeremi choose Plastic

8- Robbin/Chelsea choose Paper

9- Jocelyn/Victor choose Paper – but got lost on the way to the task.

10- Greg/John choose Paper

11- Andrea/Malaina choose Paper – but end up getting there after all the stoves are taken, and choose to wait rather than try the other Detour.

Much rice paper wrap making and vinyl melting ensues. So, teams complete the detour in the following order:

1- Steve/Anna Leigh

2- Joel/Garrett

3- Rob/Corey

4- Todd/Ashlie

5- Morgan/Lena - (Toyouke: "Picking the wrong Detour and not Bald Snarking is a much worse mistake than using the Express Pass earlier.")

6- Robbin/Chelsea

7- Andrea/Malaina

8- Joe/Ian

9- Greg/John

10- Jocelyn/Victor - (Toyouke: 😬)

11- Liam/Yeremi

Teams are now instructed to take a taxi to Truc Lam Phuong Nam Zen Monastery, and find Phil at the mat.

1- Steve/Anna Leigh

2- Joel/Garrett

3- Rob/Corey

4- Todd/Ashlie

5- Robbin/Chelsea

6- Morgan/Lena

7- Joe/Ian

8- Greg/John

9- Andrea/Malaina

10- Jocelyn/Victor

11- Liam/Yeremi

And Liam and Yeremi are told they are dead last. But it’s double leg, so they get handed their next clue! (Toyouke: "BOOOOO You said no non-elims!") Teams are now instructed to travel by taxi to Café Tu Diec and ask the person behind the counter for their next clue. They also have 5500 dong for the next part of the leg.

ORDER NOW:

1st – Steve/Anna Leigh

2nd – Joel/Garrett

3rd – Rob/Corey

4th – Todd/Ashlie

5th – Robbin/Chelsea

6th – Morgan/Lena

7th – Joe/Ian

8th – Greg/John

9th – Andrea/Malaina

10th – Jocelyn/Victor

11th – Liam/Yeremi

Next week: Leg 3 continues! Steve and Anna Leigh deal with fish wiggling! And Morgan and Lena regret using their Express Pass already. Until next time!