City View Outside my Room in Vien Dong Hotel @ Ho Chi Minh City [Vietnam]

Would you always opt for hotel rooms with window when you travel? In Vietnam, many hotels actually do not have many rooms with windows given that their buildings are deep instead of wide. 

At Vien Dong Hotel, there were more rooms with windows but they looked out to the inner courtyard which might be disturbing given that people can still walk past. We got a room with a small window and gave us a somewhat good view of the city.

A congested view no doubt that made me wonder where were all the main roads that constantly have floods of motorbikes traversing up and down?! 

In between these closely packed buildings were little lanes that acted as transport nodes. I got a chance to explore in the last second day of my trip and it amazed me that there was an entire ecosystem there, with eateries, laundromats, hair salons, provision shops etc.  

This untidy urban planning was an art although we couldn't fathom the reasons for so many different buildings that were higher than your standard one to three floors height. Wouldn't there be a risk of toppling given the high center of gravity? 

Not to mention as well the heightened fire risk since many buildings likely only have two entrances / exits; one in front and one at the back. And with buildings so tight together, fire also tends to spread faster. 

Some buildings were quite rundown and I doubt there are lifts in some of them. As the area we were in is District 1, I bet it's just a matter of time some rich developers decide to buy over the buildings and spruce up the area. 

Two rooftops bars in this picture; the shorter one should be "The View Rooftop Bar & Eatery" and the taller one is "Banana Mama Rooftop Bar & Kitchen Saigon". Maybe I should check out the next time I visit HCMC as cocktail costs as low as 190,000 Dong (about S$11)! 

Enjoy the time-lapsed video!

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Click here for my 6 Days Itinerary in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) - Pearl of the Far East @ Vietnam