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Movies and adventure holidays

Who can forget the dramatic scenery from ‘Lord of the Rings’ courtesy of New Zealand’s stunning landscapes? Or when Indiana Jones finally discovers the ‘Temple of Doom’ at Petra? Or any of the Bond movies?! No amount of advertising can replace the free marketing value of these epics, drawing in thousands of tourists.

Some movie locations are entirely obvious – ‘Out of Africa’ just HAD to be filmed in Africa (no Hollywood backdrop could possibly double for the mesmerising African plains after all) and ‘Gorillas in the Mist’ really needed to be filmed on location in the mountains of Rwanda. However some locations have doubled up as surprising backdrops for films – did you know that the Bogart classic ‘African Queen’ was actually filmed in Turkey? That the Andes stood in for the Himalayas in ‘Seven Years in Tibet’? And Budapest has ‘played’ Rome, Paris, London and Buenos Aires in a variety of films. In Morocco there is a Kasbah settlement called Ait Benhaddou which has provided a backdrop for a number of famous movies including ‘Gladiator’ and ‘Lawrence of Arabia’.

Below are some classic movie spots and some lesser known connections – because it’s all about location, location, location….

Jordan – The classic scene from 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom' where Indy emerges from the siq beneath the imposing face of the Treasury at Petra

Egypt– The creepy scenes with the human ‘Jaws’ chasing Bond through various Nile Valley temples in 'The Spy Who Loved Me'

Morocco – The maze of Kasbahs that makes up Ait Benhaddou provided the perfect backdrop for 'Gladiator' amongst many other films

Turkey – the final scenes along the reed-covered river banks in the black and white classic 'African Queen'

Russia Fancy blowing up the Kremlin? Tom Cruise leads the way in 'Mission Impossible 4'

Hungary – The base for the evocative tale of revenge for the 1972 Olympic massacre - 'Munich'

Kenya Who can forget Robert Redford washing Meryl Streep’s hair on the African plains in 'Out of Africa'

Uganda A country that is still synonymous with the terrible reign of Idi Amin - 'The Last King of Scotland'

Rwanda – Dian Fossey’s incredible work with these endangered majestic creatures - 'Gorillas in the Mist'

China Amazingly Bertolucci got permission to film 'The Last Emperor' actually in situ

JapanThe critically acclaimed 'Lost in Translation' brings Japan to life

Thailand – Leo, tropical beaches, desert islands – what more can one ask for? 'The Beach'

Argentina – Brad Pitt as a German, the Andes as the Himalayas and Argentina as Tibet – all in 'Seven Years in Tibet'

Brazil The opening scene of the Jesuit priest being hurtled over the Iguazu Falls is a lasting memory from 'The Mission'

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