Things You Only Notice In Raiders Of The Lost Ark The More You Watch It

"Raiders of the Lost Ark" has another famous trademark: the flight and travel maps that show the adventurer's globe-trotting. While these transitions manage to make a man sitting on a plane captivating, the more you watch it the more problems you'll find, especially if you have any historical or geographical knowledge.

Let's start with the seaplanes, specifically the fact that there's a lot of them. Not only is there a seaplane in South America but Indy also leaves America in a sea plane. This seaplane is shown in the background of Indy's travelogue to Nepal, implying he's on the plane the whole way. One has to wonder what Nepalese sea it lands in. This, however, is the least of our concerns.

Let's remember the fact that this is 1936. On the map, Indy flies over Thailand; in 1936, however, it would still be called Siam for another three years. Jordan would be called Transjordan for another decade after Indy's flight, yet the map shows it as Jordan. 

Then, there's one more issue, and it's a big one. Indy seems to fly to Nepal. But Nepal had no aviation to speak of until 1949. Maybe the plane graphic was just to show him flying out of America and he actually went over land into Nepal? That still wouldn't explain why the graphic flying Nepal to Karachi en route to Cairo shows another plane (though at least this time, it's a DC-3 with landing gear).