in particular, Thích Ca Phật Đài, Phổ Đà Sơn Quan Âm Bồ Tát Tự Temple, and Niết Bàn Tịnh Xá temple, draw pilgrims from around the country. Before the area was settled by ethnic Vietnamese, the Khmer people practiced Theravada Buddhism. The area has some 14 Catholic wards with active services. A notable monument in the city is the Christ of Vũng Tàu, a large statue built by Vietnam's Catholic minority. It was completed in 1974, with the height of 32 metres and two outstretched arms spanning 18.4 metres. It is among the tallest statues of Christ in Asia. There has been a Russian village in Vũng Tàu ever since the Soviet era; these Russians generally worked for the Russian-Vietnamese joint venture VietSovpetro. It is believed that these "Russians", or "citizens of the former Soviet Union", were once the most dominant group of foreigners in Vũng Tàu. Some have remained in Vũng Tàu after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. They formed a parish of the Russian Orthodox Church. One of the Vietnamese whale worship sites, the Lăng Ông Nam Hải Whale Temple, hosts a skeleton of a whale, being respected in the name of Nam Hai General, a whale god. Nam Hai General is said to govern the ocean and protect people from evils, monsters, and disasters, and an annual festival is held in recognition. Cuisine Bánh khọt are small round savoury pancakes. Vung Tau has its own variety that is more crispy and has shrimp added on top. Bánh xèo Vũng Tàu are pancakes famous for its taste which cannot be found in anywhere. Ingredients include rice flour, shrimp, pork, bean sprouts but it tastes is more significant thanks to the crust made from fresh chicken eggs, and the filling full of onions and mushrooms. Climate Transport From Hồ Chí Minh City, it takes about two hours to reach Vũng Tàu by road (51A Expressway), one and a half hours by high speed ferry, or one and a half hours by car on the freeway. Twin towns – sister cities Vũng Tàu is twinned with: Baku, Azerbaijan Ganja, Azerbaijan Ha Long, Vietnam Padang, Indonesia Parramatta, Australia A street in Baku is named after Vũng Tàu, while Vũng Tàu has a street named Baku. This commemorates the cooperation in petroleum extraction between Soviet Azerbaijani and Vietnamese specialists in Vũng Tàu in the 1980s. References External links Cities in Vietnam