Gateway to Halong
Just a short two-hour drive from Hanoi, Haiphong is one of Vietnam's major ports and an international gateway to the world. This port town however, retains an elegance and charm imbued by the elderly French-colonial buildings and a sleepy, almost provincial feel reinforced by the relatively slow pace of life evident in Haiphong.
For business travellers and MICE groups, there is really
only one place to stay at present - the four-star Harbour
View Hotel, a well-equipped operation managed by Royal
Garden Resorts of Thailand.
Activities in Haiphong itself are limited to strolling the quiet streets and taking in the scenery and vignettes of everyday life, although the major draw for groups to the city is its proximity to the glorious scenery of Cat Ba island and the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Halong Bay, both easily accessible by boat or rapid ferry.
Once in Halong, groups will marvel at the spectacular vistas with azure waters surrounding magnificent, towering peaks of solid limestone rising almost vertically from the seabed. Boat trips will take visitors around these eerily arresting isles, visiting caves, grottoes and deserted beaches along the way. Several stay-aboard options are now available in Halong, several departing from Haiphong itself. Accommodation is on many boats is quite luxurious, and groups will enjoy superb seafood preparations, barbecues on deck and sun-downer cocktails as they cruise this dramatic and extravagant landscape. |
