The Hanoi region of Vietnam offers many interesting places to visit on a short trip outside the city, and one of the best for photographers is the Quang Phu Cau Incense Village, which makes colorful incense sticks.
This Vietnamese village has apparently been making incense sticks for over 100 years, and bushels of all colors are laid out every day to dry in the sun, which is a fun and photogenic sight.
It’s easy to visit Quang Phu Cau on a half-day trip from Hanoi, and the locals welcome visitors and photographers. The place is already becoming a little more popular with tourists.
In this guide, you will learn how to get to Vietnam Incense Village (with or without a visit), when to take the best photos and everything you need to know before you go!
Best Tour for Vietnam Incense Village
GetYourGuide offers a highly appreciated incense village tour that includes pick-up and drop-off from hotels in the old town of Hanoi in Vietnam.
This is a 5-hour tour that also includes a photogenic Hanoi train street tour with an English-speaking guide, air-conditioned transfers and all entrance fees to Quang Phu Cau Incense village. They have to-do or private tours available.
We have used GetYourGuide for many tours and activities around the world, and they are great. Highly recommended!
What to expect in the Incense village of Quang Phu Cau
The incense village of Quang Phu Cau is a fun sight to see. Bamboo the incense sticks are dyed with all the different colors, then spread out to dry each morning.
Since it is about Vietnam, Red is the most common color that you use, but you can also see many other bright colors such as green, yellow, purple, brown or turquoise.
With hundreds of bushels of incense, this place almost looks like a flower garden! Sometimes they arrange the incense in funny patterns that resemble the star on the Vietnamese flag or the geographical shape of Vietnam.
The inhabitants of the incense village are very welcoming and happy to look around and take as many photos as you want. There are even raised platforms so that you can photograph the incense from above, which I thought was the best perspective.
Drones are also allowed in Quang Phu Cau, and I saw a tourist using a drone for video, although it’s really not necessary for great photos, because the platforms offer almost the same perspective as a drone anyway.
There are several different courtyards where incense sticks are dried in Quang Phu Cau, but the best one you should visit is marked “Lang Lam huong do” on Google Maps. This one is very photogenic and that’s where most of the photos in this blog post were taken!
Some tours will also give you an overview of the workshops and the incense making process, which includes chopping bamboo, immersing sticks in dye and making incense paste. All in all, it’s a very cool experience!
Best time to visit the incense village
The best time to visit the incense village is always when it is not raining, because the incense sticks are only arranged in dry weather.
If it rains, the incense sticks may need to be covered to protect them. There are a few indoor incense displays in the village (like this one), but they are not as photogenic as the outdoor displays.
Any time of the day is good to visit, although the morning is usually the best because it is not so hot. The incense is laid out all day, so you can go there in the afternoon if you want.
