Teams

Each team is composed of two individuals who have some type of relationship to each other.

Route Markers

Route Markers are orange and light green flags that mark the places where teams must go. Most Route Markers are attached to the boxes that contain clue envelopes, but some may mark the place where the teams must go in order to complete tasks, or may be used to line a course that the teams must follow.

Clues

Clues are found throughout the legs in sealed envelopes, normally inside clue boxes. They give teams the information they need and tasks they need to do in order for them to progress through the legs.

• Lộ trình (Route Info): A general clue that may include a task to be completed by the team before they can receive their next clue.
• Lựa chọn kép (Detour): A choice of two tasks. Teams are free to choose either task or swap tasks if they find one option too difficult.
• Vượt rào (Roadblock): A task only one team member can complete. Teams must choose which member will complete the task based on a brief clue about the task before fully revealing the details of the task.
• Nhảy cóc (Fast Forward): A task that only one team may complete, allowing that team to skip all remaining tasks and head directly for the next Pit Stop. Teams may only claim one Fast Forward during the entire season.

Obstacles

Teams may encounter the following that may affect their position during the legs:

• Rào cản (U-Turn): The U-Turn is an obstacle where a team can force another trailing team to complete the other option of the Detour they did not select. Teams may only use their ability to U-Turn another team once throughout the season.

Legs

At the beginning of each leg, teams receive an allowance of cash to cover expenses.

Teams then have to follow clues and Route Markers that will lead them to the various destinations and tasks they will face. Modes of travel between these destinations include commercial and chartered airplanes, boats, trains, taxis, buses, and rented vehicles provided by the show, or the teams may simply travel by foot. Each leg ends with a Pit Stop (Về đích) where teams are able to rest and where teams that arrive last are progressively eliminated from until only three remain.

• Thẻ Ưu Tiên (Express Pass): This is awarded to the winners of the first leg of the season and allows that team to skip any task they want. In Season 6, the Express Pass, in addition to allowing a team to skip a task, also gave them the power to save a team from elimination, much like the Salvage Pass.

Penalties

• If teams take the wrong form of transportation, teams were issued a 15-minute penalty.
• Teams must obtain all of the clues during a leg and have all of their clues by the end of a leg; unlike the American version, teams were issued a five-minute penalty for every clue they missed. If teams lose a clue, they have the option of either looking serve a 30-minute penalty. As seen in the third season, the team who found their clue may pass it to the team who lost it, but doing so would result in a penalty.
• Teams are required to obey local traffic laws even if they are being driven. If a taxi driver commits a traffic infraction, teams must abandon the taxi immediately; failure to do so results in a 10-minute penalty.