Quang Phu Cau: the incense village near Hanoï
- cam.campo
- Dec 25, 2024
- 2 min read
Updated: Jan 4
It's time to set the record straight! Quang Phu Cau Incense Village is not a must-see place when traveling to Vietnam. You can take some nice pictures there but nothing more!
First, you will need to find a means of transportation to get there. From Hanoi, you will have the choice between the bus, the taxi or a travel agency. First option, the bus: you will have to take two city buses which represents about 2 hours of travel one way. Second option, the travel agencies: several agencies offer excursions to discover the manufacture of incense. You can book your tour directly in the city of Hanoi. The third option, the one we chose, the taxi or rather a Grab (Vietnamese Uber), 45 minutes of car and about 300k VND.
Once we arrived in Quang Phu Cau after a 45 minute drive, we were very surprised by the place. No tourists or tourist activities except for one or two small sites for drying incense. As soon as we saw this, we immediately asked the driver to wait for us for the return, I don't know how we would have done without that. If you decide to go to Quang Phu Cau, plan your return well!
Entrance fees to the incense drying area cost 100k VND and allow for photo opportunities. Don't expect to understand how the incense is made, you will simply be shown photos posted at the top of the shed.
While walking in the village you can still see from afar, factories that are located in some houses. Bamboo stems are stacked in front of the entrances and are then finely cut in order to be transformed into incense sticks.
To conclude, I think that this place is not worth the detour although the photo rendering is rather nice. If you pass through Hue, small incense stands are on the road to visit the tomb of Tu Duc.
Good to know : if it rains, forget Quang Phu Cau! The incense "fields" are only set up in good weather in order to dry the sticks in the sun.
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