Travel where Indiana Jones
has Gone

By Malayna Dawn
I have to admit, Indiana Jones had a huge impact on my life. My family can attest to my love of the maps they show in the films whenever Indi travels from one place to the next, but this limited edition map by artist Matt Busch does so much more. And it's so pretty! Doesn't it make world travel look like an adventure?

Limited Edition print by Matt Busch. See the video below for more info.

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Released in 1981, takes place in 1936

• "Raiders " begins in Peru in a place the script says is "on the eastern slopes of the Andes," known as "Ceja de Selva" or "The Eyebrow of the Jungle."
  
  -- We found out that you can trek through here, instead of the conventional Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. Watch out for poisoned darts!
  
  
• Then to New England, where Dr. Jones teaches archaeology.
  
  --The shot of the outside of the university is a music conservatory at The University of the Pacific in Stockton, California.
  
  
• Patan, Nepal - the snowy place where Marion's bar burns down
  
  
• Cairo, Egypt - Sallah's place, The Tanis digs (shot in Tunisia)
  
  
• Ship to a sub across the Mediterranean to a mysterious island cavern where the sub docks and the ark is opened.
  
  
• Washington DC - the Pentagon (and probably the very large warehouse)
  
  

In the book by Graham Hancock called The Sign and the Seal , he says the Lost Ark of the Covenant is in the city of Axum in Ethiopia, and can be found at the Saint Mary of Zion church!

Modified from the map found on the Indiana Jones Wiki.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Released in 1984, takes place in 1935 (making it a prequel)

The second film, Temple of Doom , was even closer to my heart. We saw it as a family (I was 14), and my Sri Lankan father recognized that the people in the supposedly Indian village were actually speaking Sinhalese, the native language of Sri Lanka. It turns out that most of the movie was filmed in Sri Lanka, now one of Spiral Whirled Travels two headquarters!

• Shanghai is where the movie begins -- in a nightclub where "Anything Goes" is being performed.
  
  
• Their escape takes them to a plane, then an inflatable raft that arrives in...
  
  
• Mayapur, West Bengal, India - an actual place (see the map?), but based on a fictional place.
  
  
• The film location for Pankot Palace was originally going to combine the Amber Palace in Jaipur, India (for the exterior) with the Rose Palace (for the interior). But when the Indian government had trouble with elements in the script, the production was moved to...
  
  
• Kandy, Sri Lanka, and the exteriors were done with artwork. The rope bridge suspended over a gorge was created in Sri Lanka by a British engineering company working on the construction of a nearby dam (Victoria Reservoir is my guess, since it is near Kandy).
  
  
• However, the scenes where the bridge and the people are hanging off a cliff were shot in a studio in England and the hungry crocodiles below were shot in Florida. Movie magic in action!

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Released in 1989, takes place in 1938

The Last Crusade had heart -- from the father-son relationship to the connections back to the origins of things we already knew about Indi, I felt a lot of love. I also loved the Venice locations, the symbolism of the grail legend and the stunning sight of the legendary temple. Good stuff!

• Utah, USA - River Phoenix as young Indi explores in Arches National Park, outside of Moab, Utah
  
  
• The train scenes take place on the Cumbres & Toltec Railroad that stretches from Colorado to New Mexico - and you can still ride on it!
  
  
• The Portuguese Coast - where Indi gets his hat (and the Cross of Coronado)
  
  
• Venice, Italy - film locations included an approach via Rio San Barnaba, crossing over the Ponte dei Pugni (bridge of fists), The Church of San Barnaba and Campo San Barnaba gave us the exterior for the (fictional) church-turned-library. (Darn! I wanted to go there!) Also, the jetty at the Palazzi Barbaro. But some of these scenes were actually shot in Essex, England, near the Tilbury Docks.
  
  
• Germany - the castle and the other film locations that depicted Berlin were actually all around England -- in London and Buckinghamshire.
  
  
• Hatay - modern-day Turkey - The Republic of Hatay was part of French Syria, then gained independence and existed for only one year, from 1938 to 1939, before becoming part of Turkey. The scenes though, were shot in Granada, Spain as was the interior Zeppelin sequence. (It was apparently so hot that neither male leads are wearing pants while seated at a table, in order to reduce their sweating!)
  
  
• The Canyon of the Crescent Moon and the impressive facade of the temple are actually in Petra, Jordan. The building is called Al Khazneh or "The Treasury."
  
  

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Released in 2008, takes place in 1957

The Crystal Skull doesn't have nearly as much information available as the previous films, nor does it have quite as many locations mentioned. It was a nice way to tie all the storylines together, but I wish this tidbit, learned from Internet Movie Database trivia, had been included:

"Originally Henry Jones, Sr., Short Round, Sallah and Willie Scott were to make an appearance at Indiana's wedding."

Awwww!

The script mentions the following places:

• Nevada
  
• Nazca, Peru
  
• Ilha Aramaca, Brazil
  
• University - New England
  

IMDB lists some of the following locations, and we must draw our own conclusions...for now:

• Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA
• Chihuahuan Desert, New Mexico, USA
• First Christian Church of North Hollywood
• Hamakua Coast, Hawaii, USA
• Hilo, Hawaii, USA
• Iguazu Waterfalls, Misiones, Argentina - a World Heritage Site!
• Iguacu Falls, Parana, Brazil
• University of the Pacific, Stockton, California, USA
• Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA

Want More Indi?

For more about the Indiana Jones films, visit the sites where we found much of our info:

• The Indiana Jones Wiki
• The Internet Movie Database - especially the Trivia and Locations sections
• The Internet Movie Scripts Database
• The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations
• Read an alternate script for the fourth film by Chris Columbus

Be sure to also enjoy all you can of the Indiana Jones franchise, which includes a TV series , books , comic books/graphic novels , board games , role playing games , a pinball machine , LEGOs , video games and the different rides at Disneyland, DisneySea in Japan and Disneyland Paris!

And if you thought you were obsessed, check this out!

Find fellow genre fans and fun on our Steampunk, Sci Fi, Fantasy, and Comic Book Adventures page.

OR travel like Indiana Jones--in Zeppelins and all,
Steampunk Style!

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