Palawan (pronounced "pull-OW-un") is an island and province of the Philippines.
Palawan on a map
Indiana Jones traveled to Palawan in 1947 in search of the trail of Taklit, one of the Disciples of Marduk, who had manipulated an ancient tribe on the island into building a secret temple that would shelter one of the four lost pieces of the Infernal Machine. Soviet troopers, led by scientist Gennadi Volodnikov, had already discovered the entrance to this hidden temple, amazingly built inside a still-active volcano. Jones explored the temple, discovered Taklit's skeleton, and attained Taklit's part of the Machine. Another American, CIA agent Sophia Hapgood, was briefly held hostage on the island by the Soviets though later rescued by Jones. On the island, Jones encountered large sharks, vicious monitor lizards, and poisonous arthropods. After leaving the temple, Jones also drove around central Palawan in a jeep, evading and running over several hostile Soviet infantrymen.
