Pavilion of Light - Minh Mang Tomb

From this pavilion Minh Mang watched the building of his tomb.

Minh Lau (Pavilion of Light) reached by Trung Dao Bridge.

Views from Pavilion of Light across Thong Minh Chinh Truc Bridge (in yesterday's post).

Thong Minh Mang

In my opinion this is the most stunning of the Ngyen tombs outside Hue. Minh Mang reigned from 1820 to 1841

Three thousand soldiers and laborers worked on the tomb in 1840. After he died his son enlisted 9 000 soldiers and workers to finish the job. The King had 142 offspring so I guess he was quite pleased to eventually be lying in peace.

A 10 ft/3 m high wall runs around 40 buildings in a beautiful park setting.

This is Thong Minh Chinh Truc Bridge over the Ton Nguyet Lake.

Views across the lake from the Stela Pavilion

Painted ceiling of the Stela Pavillion

New shoes??

It's not only tourists who get sore feet in the quiet highland town of Dalat, in Southern Vietnam.

Mountains of Marble

South of Da Nang towards the coast, stand five large hills called Ngu Hanh Son - Marble Mountains.

The mountains are a valuable source of red, white and blue-green marble, and at the foot of the marble skilled carvers chisel out a huge number of objects for the house and garden. Marble from here was used to build Ho Chi Min's Mausoleum in Hanoi, see my previous post.

Have bike - will travel

There are thousands of bicycles in Vietnam. We saw these on the streets of Hoi An.

Inside Khai Dinh's Palace, Hue

Inside the palace it is a visual feast compared to the less-inspiring blackened exterior of the mausoleum. Colourful floor tiles, a huge dragon-in-the-clouds mural that was painted by artists using their feet adorns the ceiling of the middle chamber, and bright frescoes of inlaid ceramics and glass depicting the four seasons, cover the walls.

Nine metres below a life-size bronze statue of Khai Dinh made in France in 1922, the king's remains are entombed

More views from Khai Dinh Tomb - Hue

Lacking the tranquil calm and colour of the other Nguyen Dynasty Tombs, Khai Dinh's exterior is quite austere and monotone, especially in bad weather.

Khai Dinh's Tomb - Hue

On a steep hillside outside Hue, in Central Vietnam, this grandiose dragon staircase leads up to the entrance gates and the first courtyard of Khai Dinh's Tomb.

Entrance gates to the first courtyard. The tomb climbs the hillside in terraces of cement, slate and marble, and was 11 years in the making.

The first courtyard is filled with stone statues of elephants, horses and civil and military mandarins. Khai Dinh reigned from 1916 to 1925

A load of rubbish

This rubbish bin on the footpath across from our hotel in Hanoi took my eye.

I even find rubbish bins photogenic!!!

Sick as a Vietnamese cat

Jules is holed up in bed sick and can't post.

Will have to sit on the bed and keep her company.

Benson the Cat

Views through bamboo

A stand of bamboo in the gardens of the Truc Lam Pagoda outside Dalat in the highlands of Southern Vietnam