12 Best Sights in Side Trips from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Vung Tau's most popular beach has golden sands that stretch for miles, but it's not the prettiest or the cleanest beach around. Quiet on weekdays, it's crowded on weekends, with locals who will be playing volleyball, football, and jogging. Back Beach is fine for swimming, but be aware that most of the locals swim fully clothed so parading around in a skimpy swimsuit may attract some stares. There are showers at the Imperial Hotel's Beach Club, which has a 250,000d entry fee. Amenities: food and drink; showers. Best for: sunset; swimming; walking.

Rio has Christ the Redeemer overlooking the city, Vung Tau has Christ the King, a 105-foot-high statue on a 13-foot-high platform atop Mt. Nho, looking out over the East Sea with his arms outstretched. Even though tackling the 847 steps up Mt. Nho is a challenge in the hot and steamy conditions, expect to be overtaken by tiny Vietnamese grandmothers in thick acrylic suits. Take plenty of water. There's a little shop at the top selling drinks and snacks, and an art gallery inside Jesus's legs, but the opening hours seem to change to suit the caretakers' own schedules.

One of Vung Tau's more quirky sights, Front Beach Park, sometimes called Statue Park, has a children's playground, fitness stations, walking trails, and an extensive collection of statues, including some that are quite racy for conservative Vietnam.

Only accessible at low-tide across treacherous slippery rocks, Hon Ba Island is home to the Mieu Ba (lady) temple, dedicated to the patron goddess of sailors and fishermen. If you visit, watch the tide carefully to make sure you don't get stranded. There's no food or fresh water on the tiny island.

This marks the site of the Battle of Long Tan, which took place on August 18, 1966, between a regiment comprising 105 Australians and three New Zealanders and a Vietcong force estimated at between 1,500 and 2,500. The fierce battle fought during a torrential downpour in a rubber plantation left 18 Australians and 245 Vietnamese dead and 21 Australians and many more Vietnamese wounded. August 18 is now Vietnam Veterans' Day in Australia and every year on this date, and on Anzac Day (April 25), a small ceremony is held at the Long Tan Cross. People who want to attend one of these ceremonies should register their interest well in advance with the Australian Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City. The Long Tan Cross is politically sensitive and is on private land and should not be visited without an official tour guide. Those wishing to visit the site must notify the Dat Do District People’s Committee in writing by fax 3 days in advance of their visit, either individually or through a travel agent.

A cramped beach below Ha Long Street, Mulberry Beach isn't really a place you'd travel miles to see, and despite the poetic name, it's not ideal for swimming. Legend has it that the hillside near the beach, where the Virgin Mary statue is now, was once a mulberry field, hence the name. Amenities: none. Best for: solitude; walking.

Completed in 1974, this pagoda at the base of Nho Mountain is considered one of Vung Tau's most beautiful. The serene garden in front of the pagoda represents Buddha achieving the state of Nirvana. The most famous part of the complex, however, is the 39-foot-long Reclining Buddha statue.

On the west side of Lon Mountain is a 25-meter (82-feet) high statue of the Virgin Mary holding aloft a baby Jesus. The statue is part of the Our Lady of Bai Dau (Mulberry Beach) church complex. There's a path that leads from near the statue to the peak of Lon Mountain. At the end of the path are the 14 Stations of the Cross.

This Theravada Buddhism temple, built between 1961 and 1963, is on the northwestern face of Lon Mountain. The highlights are a 33-foot-high gleaming white Buddha statue and the climb up the steps to its base, through beautiful gardens and jungle. Alongside the steps is a series of statues depicting Buddha's life. Pilgrims from all over Vietnam visit the pagoda, which has a Zen Buddhist monastery on-site.

Built by the French during colonial times to guide ships into the Saigon port, the still-operational 59-foot-high lighthouse sits at the top of Small Mountain, at the end of a steep and winding road, still protected by four old French cannons. If you take a taxi to the lighthouse, ask the driver to wait for you because there are not going to be any passing taxis to hail and it's a very long walk back down the mountain. The views on the way up are sensational, and there are a few cafés along the way for refreshment.

Like many seaside villages in Vietnam, Vung Tau has a temple dedicated to Ca Ong, Mr. Whale, the guardian angel of the seas. This humble place of worship, with its small collection of whalebones, is an interesting place to visit, although there is no information in English to explain the beliefs and rituals of the temple.

Built in 1898, the White Palace has variously served as the French governor's residence, a retreat of Bao Dai, the last emperor of Vietnam, and the president of South Vietnam's summer house. The villa is now a slightly worn museum with a ground-floor exhibition of late-17th- and early-18th-century Chinese artifacts recovered from a shipwreck near the Con Dao Islands. On the upper floors there's the now-shopworn living quarters of the last resident. Despite its tired air, the White Palace is worth visiting for the views of the East Sea and the lush tropical grounds.