Sapa

Sapa is about 315 km (~200 miles) north of Hanoi, almost to the border with China. It can be characterized as a cozy and colorful crisp mountainous town with narrow streets that ascend and descend with the hills. The streets are lined with cafes, restaurants, hotels, and shops. Outside of town, the narrow streets switchback through lush nature, small villages, and around rolling terraces of rice paddies or other crops along the foothills of the mountains. At this altitude, the weather is cooler than the rest of the country; however, the days can get hot and nights cool and the potential for rain and fog can roll in and retreat like a breeze. 

Sapa is in the Hoàng Liên Son Mountain range, which is the eastern end of the Himalayas, and includes Indochina’s highest point, Fan Si Pan Mountain at a height of 3,143 meters (10,325 feet). The summit of Fan Si Pan offers stunning views and if a two-to-three-day strenuous hike is not your idea of fun, take the 20-minute cable car and shorter tram to the summit. The Phu Quoc Cable Car holds a Guinness World Record for being the tallest and longest non-stop three-rope cable car at 7,900 meters (25,920 feet or 4.9 miles). While enjoying the views it would be impossible to miss the cultural attractions like the 21-meter-tall bronze Great Buddha or the Bich Van Zen Monastery where visitors can meditate. The summit is open each season and the winter must offer equally incredible views! 

Incense Village 

If you are staying in or near Hanoi, make time for a half-day trip to the Quang Phu Cau Incense Village. Honestly, it will take longer to drive to and from the village (about two to three hours round trip with moderate traffic) than to see the incense! A misconception is that the place where tourists typically take photos is big, but it is not. However, with that said, the area where the incense is laid out to dry is beautiful and worth the visit alone! It is one of the most photogenic places and for a small fee, 100,000 dong ($4 or ₩5,500), you can take all the photos you want. Let me explain a bit about the importance of incense and the process of making it.

Incense plays a significant role in Vietnamese and Southeast Asian spiritual life. It is used in temples, pagodas, shrines, and other worshipping places. Every Vietnamese family has an altar, where they worship their ancestors and burning incense is believed to be the bridge connecting the living with the spirits. 

The traditional craft of making incense has been around for more than 100 years and was originally made by hand; presently, machines have taken over part of the process. After harvesting bamboo-like trees, it is split into the long toothpick-like sticks we are familiar with. Then the sticks are bundled, dipped into a vat of dye, and sent to a drying area. Once the dyed bundles are delivered to the drying area, ladies fan each bundle out into the round shape you see in the photos and remove any bad sticks from the bundles. 

Next, to create the aroma typical of incense, various ingredients such as pine buds, clove roots, or cinnamon bark are ground into powder and glued to the sticks. After gluing two or three layers, the sticks are sealed and again left to dry. While certain tours will take tourists to see all the steps in the process, the part when the incense is fanned out to dry is quite impressive. The $4 dollar fee is more than reasonable to take photos since they do make the area conducive for it. There are small paths between the incense and scaffolding along the edges to climb up and shoot down.

Hanoi Vietnam is about a 4.5-hour direct flight from Incheon and if you are willing to go that far, take the extra time to go to Sapa and the Incense Village. Going to the top of Fansipan Mountain, seeing the sites in Sapa and Sun World, as well as driving about the beautiful foothills and small villages is a wonderful use of time in Vietnam! The Incense Village is a stunning site to see and take photos. To make the most of your time in the area, you might consider going on a group tour to see other things in addition to the incense. Both places are beautiful in diverse ways, and you will not regret the time spent! 

Resource for your trip to Vietnam!

Sun World Fansipan Legend: https://fansipanlegend.sunworld.vn/en

Phu Quoc Cable Car: https://honthom.sunworld.vn/en/exprience/longest-cable-car-in-the-world

Best free walking tours in Vietnam: https://www.guruwalk.com/c/vietnam

Tours for Purchase 

https://www.momentlives.com/vietnam-photo-tours/quang-phu-cau-incense-village/

https://vietnamtour.in/quang-phu-cau-incense-village/

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g293921-Activities-c42-Vietnam.html

About the Author

Dan Romano retired from the Air Force after 30 years of service. Dan was based at United States Forces Korea for several years over two assignments. He recently returned and enjoys living in Korea. 

He is a nature lover, photographer, and traveler. His adventures take him to some of the most beautiful places in the world where he captures the beauty of nature both on land and in the water.