I thought I was in Vietnam?

So this is Rio. Well what I imagine it to be at least, as this is the closest comparable thing I've seen. This statue of Jesus is located on the small hill in Vung Tau (yes there is also 'The Big Hill', there are only two hills so I guess that's how they differentiate them... logical). It's 28m tall, largest sculpture in Southern Vietnam, situated at a height of 170m, a 30 minute hike climbing probably about... a billion steps. Not gonna lie my heart was beating ridiculously fast and I did feel dizzy at times but it felt so fucking good when I reached the top. I took this picture at the bottom of the final set of steps. Kids have so much energy...

I decided to climb the statue with its 130 something steps inside, fuck it I thought what if it's the last time I'm ever here. I headed towards the statue, guard says 'T-shirt, T-shirt!' pointing at my sleeveless shirt. So I went to find my mom and borrowed her loose chemise and headed back towards the entry. 'No bag' he said this time. Jesus, I thought, what is this, the vatican? Dropped my bag off with my sister and grabbed my camera. I was finally accepted inside, after I had to leave my shoes outside of course. The climb wasn't too bad, I guess my legs were numb by then, but I preferred not to look over the rail... When we reached the top, people were starting to walk down and there was a lot of bodies rubbing. Finally reached the top and it was stunning. I would've posted a picture but it would have been too similar to yesterdays blip. The wind was really strong hence the wavefronts were so defined; it was beautiful.

It was my mother's birthday today, went to a restaurant and got to use my flash. Some fun pictures were taken. Wine was consumed, mostly by me, and jokes were told. Was a nice evening overall. I missed my family.