Kuwait National Museum & Planetarium

OMG! I went to one of the coolest museums in Kuwait. I've been in Kuwait for the last 6 years but really never to the initiative to go to museums. I read about the museum in many articles but never took the time to go, until yesterday. I was visiting different places for pics and I came across Sadu house so I took a sharp right turn (sorry people behind me about that sudden turn) and found the museum. Upon entering the guard takes your civil ID and gives you a visitors badge.

You enter the museum grounds which is really the old residence that belonged to the Al Badr family and once purchased by the government it was turned into a museum. There are two types of museums, the first museum is a display of artifacts found on Failika island during an archaeological dig. The next museum is my favorite. It's a museum of Kuwaiti heritage. It looks like Kuwait during the 40's and 50's, like a small village.

The displays include statues imitating the old ways of Kuwait. From merchants selling their goods to what a typical Kuwaiti house looked like before the invasion of modern technology. So simple were the olden days. There are old photos dating back to 1942. You would never know that Kuwait was once a simple trading hub and that a lot of people depended on the sea for earnings. It's too bad a lot of citizens have forgotten where they came from and want to be more European and up-to-date. Unlike other countries, Kuwait hasn't really preserved the past. Most of the old houses have been lost to skyscrapers and glass buildings. I really wish they would have preserved some of the old houses because they were simple and beautiful.

Other countries like Oman still have villages and people living life as it was a hundred years ago. They have fortresses you can visit and you still feel as if there is a since of pride of their heritage. There are so many palaces in Kuwait left to the elements. Why not bring them back to life for people to see? The old places have been replaced with Gucci and Prada outlets. Thank God they have Mubarakiya (the old souk) at least you can kind of get the feel of the old world. Of course that feeling is mixed up with guys yelling at you and trying to get you to buy a pair of fake clothing.

Let me stop rambling. There's also a planetarium at the same location as the museum which will be my next trip with the kids. A few feet away there is Sadu house which faces the Gulf street. It is a beautiful refurbished old Kuwaiti house and I must say it's amaaaazing. I will post information on Sadu house later. I highly recommend the Kuwait National Museum, it was a real great place to visit if you're interested in the past.