Tiger and Elephant Fights at the Coliseum

This Monday afternoon we visited a coliseum built by the Nguyen king in 1802 to hold his once annual sporting event, kind of like a bullfight but with a tiger and an elephant. The tigers came through the little doors and the elephant through a much bigger one. Like bullfights, odds favored one animal--the elephant. This was because it was the king's mode of transport and the equivalent for the royal army of an Abrams tank while Ong Ho (Mr. Tiger) represented everything wild in society as they were the kings of the forest. The construction of this place and many of the royal structures in Hue reflects a strong European architectural influence as they relied extensively on the help of European military officers and technicians and developing their early modern Vietnamese fortifications and military technology.