A Valentine Visit to the Incas

I got hitched to a couple’s Valentine’s date to a museum. Yeehah! (LOL).

I was out with my housemates today, who thought it would be nice to relax in the evening and get some fresh air. So off we went to the National Museum of Korea (Ichon Station, Subway Line 4, Exit 2) and caught on the exhibit of the Incan-Peruvian Civilization. Some people may find this whole museum tripping such a boring idea, but you see, Peru and Machu Picchu will forever be a dream travel destination for me. I also happen to live with a housemate who is a History major, and she has always loved arts and the galleries. She felt the need to keep herself updated with her passion. Not bad, eh?

South Korea has a national museum that looks as big as SM Megamall in the Philippines (or even slightly bigger). This is already my second time to visit the place, and the wide space and stretch of the museum still never fails to astound me. For a country that has long struggled to fight for its own, separate identity and heritage, I won’t be surprised if the government puts all resources in giving its culture a structured name. I then recall how the Philippine national museum looks like, and how I always feel it has never been given much importance.

Anyway, my visit to the museum was interestingly to learn about another culture apart from South Korea, and in a way you also admire the country’s efforts in opening itself and understanding the world other than its own.

The Incan civilization also has a history to boast from that other side of the globe, and the wide-eyed, monstrous faces of their gods seem to lure me more to them than the closed eyes and calmer auras of the Buddhas here. Hahaha.

I am not sure if I could still actually remember specific details from my second year highschool lectures on pre-Columban America, but what seems to have kept me mystified with the Incas is their statuesque and architecturally-mastered Machu Picchu. Known as the “Lost City of the Incas”, the structures of the city placed on top of that sacred mountain was built with dry-stone walls, which were generally described to be earthquake-proof due to their ingenious designs in construction. More so, it makes me wonder how they were able to place enormous blocks of stones on top of a mountain, when the olden times didn’t provide them with any wheels or animals to bring the stones up. The Incas’ sudden extinction also leaves me equally intrigued.

The museum showcased relics of the Incas' own pottery and jewelry, for just like any other civilizations, they also thrived with these kinds of tools for living. My housemate and I also did a lot of picking on the displays of royal people of the Incan tribe that wore very big headresses and nose jewelries, and wondered how uncomfortable it must've been for these royalties to stand and even breathe. The Incas also have their own version of mummies that came along with special cloths used to cover these dead corpse. We were of course not allowed to take pictures inside the museum, so I basically just feasted my eyes on the glassed displays.

This trip to the museum really made my dream (goal) of going to South America a lot more stronger. 2016 to Brazil-Chile-Peru, eh? Why not!!! Just in time for the Olympics!