Five unusual museums that defy belief
Museums can be really boring. There’s a dinosaur, here’s a rock. Wow. To combat those assumptions, here are five very real and very different museums from around the world that are anything but boring. The Inti Nan Solar Museum: Ever wondered which way water spins down the drain when you’re on the equator? Visit the Inti Nan Solar Museum in Ecuador to find out. Also, balance an egg on a nail — it’s only possible on the equator — and see a bunch of shrunken heads. I’m not sure how they fit it all in. The Creation Museum: Did God create the world in six days only 6,000 years ago? According to this museum, he did. See exhibits where humans run with dinosaurs, and be bowled over by information that makes no logical sense.
The Museum of Eroticism
Five floors of ‘arty’ erotica with examples of ancient religious art from around the world, all the way to the contemporary. from the collections of antique dealer, Alain Plumey, and French teacher, Jo Khalifa. No prizes for guessing that this museum is in Paris.
The Museum of Questionable Medical Devices
Includes the prostate gland warmer, recto rotor, and nose straightener, among hundreds of other weird devices. I suppose the most terrifying aspect of all this is that people were once stupid and desperate enough to believe that this stuff would actually work.
The Coca Museum
This little gem of a museum, located in the Bolivian capital of La Paz, runs through the history of the coca leaf and explains just how it’s turned into cocaine. Just in case you’re interested. The leaf itself is quite good for you in moderation, by the way. It’s the nasty chemicals and outrageous price that make it so harmful to your body. And your wallet.
Tagged: interesting museums, Inti Nan Solar Museum, The Coca Museum, The Creation Museum, The Museum of Eroticism, The Museum of Questionable Medical Devices, unusual museums
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lily said | 3 June, 2009
Having been to the Inti Nan Solar Museum myself, I can testify that it is one hell of a good time. They even give you a little banana to eat after they teach you how to use a blow gun. It’s especially refreshing after the huge disappointment that the official monument to the equator brings. It’s the same sort of fun you have at a small county fair in the U.S., with a slightly morbid twist that is oh so Ecuadorian. So, shake off your hipster irony addition, and just enjoy yourself. Que disfrutas!
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francis said | 29 May, 2009
i came across a little museum in a town near the Guatemala/Mexico border that had a fine display of random twigs, coins, rocks, lego reconstructions and…. baby foetuses in jars. didn’t help to settle the lively stomach i had at the time