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

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.

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.

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.