I apologize for the delay in replying. I've been in Big Sur the past couple of weeks.

Glad to see Indy made it to Afghanistan! And in a decent amount of time! I was happy to slingshot Indy back out to Billy Ray, and keep everything moving forward. Thanks for entrusting the task to me Stoo! I look forward to getting him back here in the future.

Like everybody has said, Stoo, great snaps! You've really set the bar with these, and I can't wait to see what comes next.

Jack said I could catch the Pan Am Clipper to Afghanistan somewhere around here.

To paraphrase Chief Brody,

"We're gonna need a bigger map."





Amazing work, Stoo! You have set the bar incredibly high! Can't wait to see Billy Ray's snaps whenever he gets the chance to throw 'em up.

Save travels, Dr. Jones - and especially to all those who cross your path.

@Stoo - PM me your address again and I'll make sure you get your own Indy. Least I can do in return for your excellent contributions. Seeing the diary again has made me realise that my entry was a bit crap - however, I was pushed for time in sending Indy out, and I hope to rectify the sparseness of that first page when I get him back.

@Lance - yep, the map is going to get horribly complicated soon. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

@Le Saboteur - your "slingshot" was invaluable to the success of this project. Hopefully you'll get a little more time to enjoy Indy and introduce him to the sights when he's back on the West Coast later this year.

@XanaduMel - your location is duly noted.

Map updated (corrected)...



I've been investigating the cost of producing a small (A6) photo book containing the best shots from this thread once Indy's journey is complete. Would anyone be interested ?

Thank you, Inky, for your extremely generous offer but I'm a bit hesitant to take you up on it. Why? You would be deprived of one less figure for your AWESOME custom work.

While giving my diary pages some 'wear & tear' I thought of reproducing a miniature coffee cup stain but didn't get around to it. You can add one to your page!

(Speaking of coffee cups, I regret not doing another perilous 'boil & pop' photo with a Canadian mug like I did with the Swiss one. It would be fun if there was a similar shot with a mug from each country/state to make a running gag throughout Indy's travels. Just an idea...)
Interested? For sure. (AlivePoet even wrote about doing the same thing in the earlier stages of this thread.) There is a company which makes custom, hardcover books and sells them on-line. The reason I'm suggesting them is because they only produce the books as each order is placed so you won't be stuck with a box/boxes of leftover, unsold books in your house. A good friend of mine has used it twice already and the quality is great and much cheaper than going a printer. (Should you choose to go this route, I can get the website address from him.)

Either way, if you need any help putting it together, let me know as this is part of my profession.;)
Ha ha!:D I still can't believe no one from CHICAGO has stepped up to the plate!:whip:

Hopefully the Wi-Fi will be more cooperative this evening than it was last night and I will be able to start posting some pics. I guess we will know in about an hour...

"Mmmph...mmble...mmmff"


Ah, that's better. That was a heck of a trip


This doesn't seem too bad


Hopefully Pan-Am didn't lose my luggage


Now to find some lodging for the night


This looks promising...


Well, I guess I've stayed in worse places than this. Tomorrow I will need to arrange transportation...

@Billy Ray - Wow. In those last two pictures you've already delivered on the crazy awesomeness that seeing Indy in the Middle East promised. Is that your billet ? Can't wait to see what else you have up your sleeve...

@Stoo - Seriously man, I have a stack of "Raiders" Indy's - happy to part with one :) Apologies for not spotting the comment from AlivePoet - I'll be sure to speak to both of you before considering putting a photobook together. Actually, I might want to pick your brains about documenting an Indy idea I have for the 30th Anniversary. Heard of the Vader Project ? Now imagine it with the Fertility Idol from Raiders...

Great start, Billy! :up:

It sure does. Nice way to begin, Billy Ray, and I'm looking forward to the rest of Indy's Afghan adventure!
O.K. If you insist!:D Now to make some room in my PM Inbox.
No need to apologize. No, I hadn't heard of the Vader Project but looked it up. Feel free to ask me anything. As far as a book is concerned, the hardest part would be choosing the best photos. I predict we may end up with a total of over 1000 shots.:eek:

Again, great idea, Inky. This thread is destined to become one of the all-time classics at The Raven. (5108 hits in less than 2 months!)

Thanks guys...I know the first batch isn't too exciting but I wanted to document Indy's trip from arrival to departure. Will post more soon, it is kind of slow going today as I had to figure out a work around to post them from work and I had to post upload one image at a time.

@inky Yeah, that's my little partioned off area of the tent. Not the best pic, but it is hard to get it all in frame. I realize now that I should have made my bed first :o

Now to find some transportation...


Hmm...this one's seen better days


I don't think so, I had a bad experience in a truck like this one time. I wonder what's in those crates though


This is a little better...


Hang on, what's that over there?


Now THIS is more like it!


This will do nicely


And away we go...

This is looking great, Billy! :up:

Especially like the Short Round method of driving! :D

LOL, yes, the VERY Short Round method;)

For the record, Indy is not really driving an MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle, the vehicle in the next to the last image). I just took a little dramatic license there. He is actually "driving" a beat up Toyota mini van:rolleyes:

AMAZING, Billy Ray!!!!!

Wow, TERRIFIC pictures. Hilarious captions!

Phenomenal job!!!!! Seeing those vehicles is incredible.

LOVE the photo with the truck and the one of him driving made me laugh out loud!:D

We walk from here...




Is this the entrance to some lost Afghani temple?


Ah no, this is the bunker...looks a little different in the daylight


I spent enough time in here last night, there must be something else to see around here...


Let's see what's outside this camp...

Kudos to eveyone involved so far. Such a simple idea done brilliantly.:D

Excellent. From the bottom up, it's like he got caught sneaking into camp, was escorted to an interrogation and ended up being given a team to take him to a site and provide security at a dig.

Very cool.

Ah, the mountains of Afghanistan. Somewhere on the other side of that range lies Kandahar city...founded in 330 B.C. by Alexander the Great himself


Maybe I can find a better vantage point


Perhaps the top of this ridge


I'll need to watch my step...


The plant life looks almost as deadly as some of the natives!


Almost to the top...


Whew! That was some climb


Wow, that is a lot of helilicopters!

INCREDIBLE job, Billy Ray! Thank you!

The pictures are gorgeous - such startling clarity. And the locations can't be beat.

Great job on the captions, too. This is amazing all around!

Thanks for your kind words Lance! I really can't take credit for it all though, as some of my buddies also took pics. The really good stuff is yet to come...

The "Taliban's Last Stand"...let's take a look inside

Hi All

Damn I go away for a few weeks to complete some commissions and you guys have transported little indy all over the place. It's greta to see him all over the world and in some awesome spots, and Billy great pics mate the old cement bunkers bring back some memories :D

Looking forward to getting Indy down under, keep up the fantastsic travels guys.

Ron

Time for an old fashioned walk about


These diggers could learn a thing or two from Sallah



Maybe I can get a better idea of the lay of the land from up here...I think I see the fabled "Poo Pond"* over there! If it's as bad as they say it is, I'm not sure I want to go there.


Ack! It is as bad as they say it is!


In fact, it's worse! I don't really think I needed to be warned "not to enter"


I'll just rest here for a few minutes and try to regain my composure, then I will maybe go get some cash and head to the local bazaar

*Visit http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/26/the-poo-pond/for more information than you would probably ever want to know on the "Poo pond"

@Billy Ray - kudos to you and your buddies for getting Indy into some once-in-a-lifetime shots (are you sure you should have photographed those 'strategic' sites ?!). Your narrative is coming together nicely too - would love to hear additional Indy anecdotes from the base if you have them. For some reason, Indy in the desert just seems perfect for the character - and that touch of Afghan dust on his boots in the last shot is possibly the most authentic piece of customising I've ever seen...

@Rocket - any sign of Lil' Indy yet ?

@Stoo - forgot to comment on your Pith Helmet fella ! Outstanding !

Time for a speech from Charlie Brown about the nature of Pig Pen's aura!

Nothing yet, but yesterday was an extention of the 4th of July Holiday so Post Offices were closed...don't worry when I get em, you'll know!

In the words of Woodstock..." | || | || | | | |".

Thanks, mate. You can see it in action in this post. I've also got another one with a slightly different (earlier) pattern.

@Billy Ray: The infamous Poo Pond!:D Your pics are getting better and I still can't believe Indy is that close to Kandahar. Who would've ever imagined it? Make sure you thank your buddies for us. The photo of him hanging on the sign and covering his face at the Poo Pond gave me a good chuckle. Nice Sallah reference, too!:up: Like Inky said, some more personal anecdotes would be cool. Can't wait to see Indy's risky drive-by at the ammo dump!

Question for you: What is he sitting on in the last picture?

@Rocket: It's been 8 days since Indy left the Land of the Heathen Hordes*. I suspect he'll be arriving very soon.

*'Flashman' reference for Inky!

@Stoo - Should I be asking what your life-changing experience in Egypt was ???


Believe he's sitting on the wing-mirror of another vehicle.


Noted and appreciated. For everyone else: "Flashman" was a cracking first installment of the Flashman series dealing with his tour under Lord Cardigan in the First Anglo-Afghan War.

We have a winner, Indy is sitting on the side view mirror of the aforementioned Toyota P.O.S.

Can't take credit for the Poo Pond pics, one of my buddys took one for the team there. I was planning on taking him down there, but definitely not looking forward to that chore. Thankfully he took the initiative. Also, the wind was in his favor :p

I will post the ammo dump pic but, unfortunately, it is pretty blurry. I wasn't willing to take an ass-whupping by a couple of U.S. Marines just for a photo op;)

*stops by to say you're all doing tremendous work with this idea/thread.*:hat:

That link was nasty!


There ought to be a special campaign medal just for serving alongside the Poo Pond. :sick:


Indy might have been thrown in, too, never to be seen again... :dead:

Another INCREDIBLE batch!!!

The pictures are superb! Thanks to you and your friends for taking 'em!

The "pond" (I read the link) is truly disturbing.

The Sallah comment was hilarious.

LOVING your contribution!!!

Now that I have some cash, I think I will check out the bazarre





















I couldn't really come up with any witty captions for this series of pics, so I thought I would just let them speak for themselves.

A couple of funny stories though:

A little kid tried to trade me some shell bracelets for Indy. I was half tempted, there is no beach anywhere near here, so shells must be worth a lot. ;)

Also, one of the vendors saw me snapping a pic with Indy and got all excited. He kept saying "What is that, what is that?" I showed him and he thought it was the funniest thing he ever saw...he kept saying, over and over again "It was a little man!" to the other guys at his stall.

Would be happy to answer but not in this thread!;) Trip to Cairo

@Billy Ray: Very cool! Photo #6 is my fave of the latest lot. The top pic looks like a WW2 artillery piece. Was that captured from the Taliban?:confused:

I also checked out the link to the Pond and can't believe it's smack in the middle of the base! Your stories about the little kid and the vendor in the bazaar are priceless. Just goes to show how much we take things for granted. Thanks for sharing.:hat:

Fantastic photos, Billy!


It's probably current British armament! It's what we're leaving behind after our troops pull out, as our new government has checked the accounts and certified us to be as poor as church mice.

The bazaar didn't look as expected - it looks a bit like some of our markets. And, yes the story of the boy desperately wanting Indy does put things into perspective.

Not sure on the origin of the artillery piece. It could actually be Soviet, there is a lot of junk that they left around here.

Yup, looks like it is a Soviet 57mm anti-tank gun ZIS-2 M1943:

Actually, upon further review, it looks more like the ZIS-2 M1945:



Here's a clear shot of the one here:

Ok, well I was wrong. I am 99.99% sure that it is actually a 76.2 mm Divisional Gun ZIS-3 M1942:



Now that that's out of the way, I will try to post some more Indy pics.

Today, Indy gets a very special treat...a tour of an AC-130 Gunship!




This thing packs a lot of heat! Behind me you can see the L60 40mm Bofors cannon and the M102 105mm howitzer


Up close and personal with the 105...


...and the 25mm GAU-12 Gatling Gun...Yeeeee Ha!


The 105 mm rounds

Nice pics.

Indiana Jones and the Angel of Death!

Can't help but think of Indy hanging on the tank gun in TLC with this one:


We occasionally get Hercules flying low over us, but I don't think they're packing like yours!

Indiana Jones and the Angel of Death...I love it!

It leapt out at me as soon as I brought up the wiki page on the AC-130!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_AC-130

I live in Herefordshire, within 20 miles of the ex-RAF base of Credenhill, which is now home to the 22 Special Air Service Regiment, so I always wonder what the significance of the Hercules flights are.

RAF jets screaming low overhead in pairs are a much more common sight, though. Local folklore always had it that they used our village post office as a target for low-level runs! :eek:

Before the 65th D-Day celebrations we were treated to hours of aerial rehearsals by AWACS and refueling aircraft! :D

But I digress... :)

Well, it looks like I only have two series of pics left to post, will try to get to some today...

Today's installment of Indy in Afghanistan is somewhat of a catch all of various photos that didn't really fit in anywhere else, taken here and there around the base:


Indy trying to catch a glimpse inside the USMC ammo compound, seconds before being chased off by two angry Marines. You can sort of make out the guard tower with USMC flag


Indy in front of the Netherlands Armed Forces compound


Indy in front of one of the British Armed Forces compounds


Indy in front of the Texas Armed Forces compound. Just kidding, it's one of the contracter's compounds ;)


Indy in front of Hangar 51...err, I mean some big hangar


Indy at the pond (the real pond, not the Poo Pond). It's pretty neat, all the various nations have little floats out there. Kind of hard to make out but the French have a miniature Eiffel Tower, and the British have a Loch Ness Monster, somebody has a battleship, and there is also a Texas flag out there too :up:


Indy at the Kandahar International Airport


And a better shot of the airport. You can just make out the mosque in the distance, on the right hand side. Indy will be visiting there tomorrow

No sign of Indy yet...no doubt he's going to make some unorthodox entrance.

Great shots Billy Ray, it's been really Indy-like to see him in some Military company early on in an adventure.

Did you get yourself in a picture?

Unfortunatelly I didn't get any pics with me in them, we had planned to take some pics with all of us, but just ran out of time. Things were a little hairy at the time I mailed him back and I had an opportunity to get Indy to the post office, so I took it. I definitely didn't want to delay his trip any longer.

I've probably got enough pics for a couple more sets...I had more than I thought I did.

Thanks a lot for getting the bottom of the identity for the ordanance piece. You went above & beyond the call of duty, there!;) I suspect the 2 busted up armoured vehicles ("this one has seen better days...") are leftover Russian junk, too?
This was obviously the special surprise you mentioned a few pages back. Love the Indy-riding-the-Gatling photo! Reminds me of Dr. Strangelove. I'm semi-familiar with the C-130 through military flight simulator experience but not the AC. "Packs a lot of heat!" No kidding...WICKED photos, Billy Ray & Co.:up:
In the world of flying machines, the Hercules is a REAL PIG! Who would ever thought of having an air-mounted Howitzer!:eek:

I'm assuming those are Soviet armored cars as well, will have to do some research on them.

LOL, I also thought of Dr. Strangelove when I first saw that pic of Indy on the mini-gun!