From Hanoi: Quang Phu Cau and Muong Coc Day Trip

Highlights

• Visit Quang Phu Cau incense village and learn about the incense-making process
• Enjoy a farm-to-table Muong Leaf Feast lunch served on banana leaves
• Cycle through Muong Coc village and explore its pagodas and temples
• Take a bamboo raft out to the middle of Baiboo Lake and enjoy the scenery
• Pick purple sim berries and enjoy sim wine in a rare ancient sim orchard

Description

Begin your day with a pickup in Hanoi and travel to Quang Phu Cau, one of the oldest traditional incense-making craft villages in the North. Arrive just as the incense-drying yards have been laid out under the early sun. See thousands of bundles of red, pink, and yellow incense fanned out into circles on tarpaulins spread over the ground, forming giant flowers. Follow your guide through the incense-making process from the very start: how the bamboo sticks are split, how the fragrant ingredients are blended, how the incense is rolled by hand, bundled, and set out to dry in the sun. Try rolling your own small bundle of incense, take photos amid the shimmering fields of incense, and pick out a few specialty bundles as gifts. Next, head to the Doi Dung Tourism Hub, about 15–20 minutes from Quang Phu Cau. A Muong local guide welcomes you with a cup of herbal tea before lunch. On a bamboo table, the Muong Leaf Feast is ready — the dishes laid directly on fresh banana leaves, not a single plastic plate in sight. The ingredients are 100% local, picked that morning and freshly cooked. This is a meal in the truest farm-to-table sense, in the way the Muong people have eaten for hundreds of years. After lunch, hop on a bicycle and follow the local guide to explore Muong Coc. Visit Phu Coc Pagoda, an ancient pagoda on a windswept hill with a banyan tree over 400 years old spreading its canopy to offer shade. Continue to Baiboo Lake, an emerald jewel in the heart of the Muong village, its clear blue waters mirroring rows of doi trees. Take a bamboo raft out to the middle of the lake and don Muong costumes for photos. Next, see the flower hill and sim orchard, rare ancient sim orchards still tended by hand, where you can pick purple sim berries and enjoy sim wine right in the orchard. Finally, visit Cay Thoi Temple, a temple dedicated to the Two Holy Mother Goddesses beside a persimmon tree over 400 years old, where three kinds of fruit grow from a single trunk. In the late afternoon, return to Hanoi along the Ho Chi Minh Road.

Includes

Transportation English speaking tour guide The Quang Phu Cau incense village tour experience Bicycles and helmets in Muong Coc Muong Leaf Feast lunch at a local home Refill water station Travel Insurance

Excludes

Breakfast, dinner and drinks outside the program Drinks during meals Personal shopping expenses at the incense village Tips for the local guide and driver

Important Information

• Best visited in the early morning for photography The Muong Leaf Feast is served on banana leaves with 100% local ingredients The '5 NO's' commitment and the Muong Coc Refill Station network throughout the journey

Easy cancellation

Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund