Khai Dinh's tomb

Tombs are tricky ones, aren't they? Set aside a small plot of land as your burial grave, and you fall into oblivion. Build a fucking huge tomb and you risk the wrath of the people.


Look what happened to the Old Kingdom after having built the pyramids. I mean, as a taxpayer, I'd be quite annoyed at the Nguyen dynasty to know that money, time and effort were being spent on one person's final resting place instead of bettering the lives of the people and kicking out the imperialists.


That said, I very much prefer Minh Mang's tomb than Khai Dinh's. It's subtle, soft and quiet, unlike Khai Dinh's brash, hard and loud in-your-face pompous tomb. I mean, come on, a life-size gilded statue of yourself? Puh-leeze.


The grey and black tones of Khai Dinh's are trumped by the red wood, yellow-orange tiles, green trees and lakes, as well as blue skies. When I think of Khai Dinh's tomb, I hear a big loud fucking gong. When I think of Minh Mang's, I hear the rustling of the wind in the trees.


Let's put it this way, when you're finally laid down to rest for all eternity, would you rather have many tourists gawking and speaking disrespectfully in your tomb or would you rather be entombed in a park where people stroll quietly by the banks of the two rivers?


Besides, Ming Mang's tomb kicks Khai Dinh's tomb's arse in terms of size.