The first tomb we visited on our motorcycle tour of Hue’s royal tombs was also the newest, the Tomb of the Emperor Khai Dinh. It dated from the early 1900s and  its architecture was a crazy mishmash of French and Vietnamese, with lots of googly-eyed dragons, both inside and outside.

Inside were brilliantly coloured tile mosaics of googly-eyed dragons staring out at you from the walls…
…and peeping down at you in between the clouds on the ceilings.
The tomb itself was decoration overload.
Khai Dinh, statue of the king of Vietnam.
The exterior was mostly of grey concrete/cement, and along with the dragons were statues of mandarins, elephants and horses, all part of an honour guard to protect the tomb.
For the rest of the grounds I have not been able to resist using the “Dream Look” filter from my newest obsession: the photo app, Photoshop Express!

Entrance Ticket for Khai Dinh Tomb in Hue

Khai Dinh was the first tomb on our motorcycle tour of three royal tombs just outside the Imperial City of Hue in Vietnam.

• (This Tomb): The Royal Tomb of Khai Dinh built between 1920 and 1931.
• Tomb 2: Minh Mang, built between 1820 and 1840.
• Tomb 3: Tu Duc’s Tomb, the oldest of the three.