Vietnamese Jesus Statue: Climbing the Christ of Vung Tau

The Vietnamese Jesus statue was erected in 1993, in one of the least religious countries in the world. According to the last official statistics (from 2018), only 7,4 % of Vietnamese people consider themselves Catholics! Still, among the strong traditions of Buddhism and Vietnamese folk religion, the Christian minority pulled the incredible stunt. After 20 years of building and constructing, the enormous concrete Son of God appeared on the southern cape of the peninsula that gave it a name – the Christ of Vung Tau.

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No samba for Vietnamese Jesus

Built more than six decades after the Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the Vietnamese Jesus statue, known as Christ the King, never gained the same touristic momentum.

Stretching his arms over Mount Nho (Small Mountain, 170 meters high) and gazing into the distance of the South China Sea, it might not have the same grandiose aura as the South American iconic monument looking over the colorful Brazilian metropolis from the 700 meters high Corcovado mountain. But that doesn’t make the Vietnamese Jesus a no-trump racehorse!

OK, on the streets of Vung Tau you might not see barely dressed Vietnamese ladies shaking their bottoms and feather headpieces like tomorrow doesn’t exist.

On the streets of Vung Tau, you won’t see kids skipping school classes to play street football while dreaming of becoming the next Neymar.

Vung Tau people appreciate pho over moqueca, and would never trade rice wine for cachaça.

Vietnam and Brazil might be very similar and very different. But when comparing their religious monuments, the Vietnamese Jesus statue is the clear winner

The two countries might argue which one loves fresh coconut better, or whose coffee wins the race, but when speaking about oversized Biblical monuments, the Asian Jesus statue clearly deserves his crown!

With 32 meters in height (2 meters more than the Redeemer), the Christ of Vung Tau might only seem smaller, as his pedestal is just 4 meters high.

However, the Vietnamese Jesus statue provides a very particular benefit – one can climb into it and admire the views of the town and the whole coastline from Christ’s perspective.

You won’t get these divine views even at the base of the statue, due to the overgrown trees. But Jesus sees it all!

The trick is only that you need to climb the mountain and Christ’s interior yourself, there is no cable car you can pay to do the physical work for you!

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Christ of Vung Tau: A small step for a pilgrim, a giant Jesus statue for mankind

Available data disagree on how many steps you need to climb to get to the monument’s platform. Some say there are 1000 steps, some exaggerate with even 1200, but the closest guess would be 800-ish.

I haven’t counted them myself, but I am certain the numbers stopped being presented after the 800 mark.

From my point of view, the obstacle is not the number of steps, but their relative shallowness. As a 185-centimeters-tall guy, I felt that the steps, sometimes just 10 centimeters high, are more tiring than the steps you would normally find in the buildings of Western civilization.

The pro-Asian-foot design gave me the feeling that I am always lifting my legs but not achieving much. And that’s what felt tiring!

Some Westerners would disagree with me. They think more small steps are less tiring than less of normal-size ones. Well, you be the judge!

In any case, rest stops are provided along the way. As this is a religious site, one might use the stops to pray, and I guess Biblical statues, chubby angels, apostles, and pietas could be inspiring for that call.

Otherwise, just take a moment to breathe in, admire the fake deer drinking from the artificial lakes, enjoy the floral gardens and bonsai trees, or just rhetorically ask yourself why the chickens are caged.

Speaking of chicken, you might find it intriguing that one of them got materialized as a gigantic building in the jungle of Java. The Indonesian Chicken Church is one of a kind!

Christ of Vung Tau, only for decently (un)dressed

The Vietnamese Jesus statue is well hidden behind the hill’s topography and trees growing on its slopes.

Its whiteness will reveal to you only at the last set of steps (this is the set when you forget to count the stairs and start to take selfies with outstretched arms, like so many before you).

Admission to the statue is free, but beware, if not properly dressed, you might need to do some unplanned T-shirt shopping at the hilltop.

Inside the monument, sleeveless shirts and tops, short pants and miniskirts, but also shoes, hats, and bags are prohibited.

Omnipresent warnings about pickpockets operating in the area make you think twice about whether you should leave your valuables at the entrance of the statue.

I have visited Vung Tau on Monday, so the monument area did not seem as crowded as it might get on the weekends. The day was cloudy enough that I didn’t mind climbing the hill at noon.

If you want to take a picture of the Vietnamese Jesus without random strangers protruding their heads through his shoulders, the lunch break between 11:30 and 13:30, when Christ of Vung Tau closes to visitors, is truly your safest bet!

Also, the tourists don’t crowd it at 13:30 exactly, so this is the moment you could get lucky enough to not have to wait in the queue for the balconies on Christ’s shoulders.

The staircase where you’ll need to wait is narrow. And the balcony is maybe an oversized word – let’s just say that on the top of the 133-step spiral marble staircase inside of the statue two hollows let you squeeze out to get that nice sea breeze. Two, maybe three friendly strangers can fit in at one time.

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Vietnamese Jesus has rules for you!

Besides expected signs for no smoking and no littering, they will also advise you that running, loud speaking, writing or drawing on the wall, consuming food and drinks, and spitting are forbidden.

Also, “no getting drunk and vomiting”. Maybe you could pass with just being drunk or just vomiting, not sure.

For the rules for which they couldn’t find an adequate pictogram, the full sentence is provided. Here’s an example: “Do not show unworthy and profane acts between couples in this sacred place.”

Then again, I think even the solo profane acts would not be that welcomed! It makes you wonder how did they come up with this being a potential issue.

When leaving the mountain, do drop by the souvenir shop!

You can have your own miniature Vietnamese Jesus for already 10.000 Dongs (40 Cents!).

The price grows with the size of the Christ, and some of them come in phosphorescent form, which means they glow in the dark!

For 240.000 Dongs (10 Euros) you could get the whole Holy Family that will enlighten your room in green.

If they pulled it off in Međugorje with the Madonna miraculously glowing in the dark, just think what kind of profitable investment the whole glowing family could be!

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This post was originally published on April 17th, 2017, and was updated on March 31st, 2022.