Sea of clouds on top of Phia Oac mountain
CAO BANG – Phia Oac mountain region in Nguyen Binh district, submerged in a sea of clouds on a spring
Along NH3, from Cao Bang to Trung Khanh is Phia Thap village (Quoc Dan commune, Quang Uyen), peaceful with typical houses on stilts of the Nung.
Located at the foot of Pha Hung mountain (To mountain) of Quoc Dan commune, Quang Uyen district, Cao Bang province , Phia Thap incense village with picturesque scenery and impressive traditional cultural features is a community tourism destination. the second hottest hit in the Northeast.
How to move to Phia Thap incense village
Located on the route to Trung Khanh district , not far from the center of Cao Bang city, only about 26km, so you can easily go to Phia Thap community tourism village following the following road: from the roundabout. KH-BG, at the end of the road, turn right on Highway 3, just go straight to see the village on the right side of the road.
Traditional incense making craft in Phia Thap incense village
Because it is an incense village, it would be really lacking if we do not mention the traditional incense making of Phia Thap . Although no one knows when this craft village has been around, for over 100 years, as long as apricot is still large, incense still exists, even now there are 53 households in the village, all 53 households are making handmade incense. .
Right from dawn, in the sound of chickens crowing throughout the village, incense craft village has awakened and busy with work for the new day. People go to the forest to cut apricot trees (ten year old bamboo) that are both straight and flexible, and easy to catch fire, split them into small pieces and hand them into small and evenly rounded sticks.
Some people go to pick gourd leaves – typical leaves that only Phia Thap village can grow in the forest to dry, can be used as a glue. There are also people who gather red crushed bark, jaggery or sawdust … to make incense powder or find rotten pine to crush into powder to create color … All completely natural without a bit of chemical. What substance.
After the ingredients have been fully prepared, the worker will dip the incense stick into the adhesive, then roll over the mixed powder of sawdust and agar powder 4 times. But it is important to pay attention that the amount of glue is not too much because it will not turn into flavor, and when you shake, you must be quick to make the dough stick and ensure the roundness for the incense stick.
All the stages seem simple, but if you are not experienced and have flexible wrists like dancing, it will definitely be difficult to succeed, and it will take a lot of time to complete.
After the powdering is finished, it is then taken to dry in the sun naturally, not by oven. That is why when traveling to Phia Thap village, you will find anywhere: from patios, courtyards, walls to roads and corners of the field are covered with incense tubes.
In particular, in order for the sticks to reach a certain dryness, one must choose the time of drying is midday when the temperature is highest. If the sun is beautiful, it only takes 1 day to dry, but if the sun is sunny, it must be dried for 2 or 3 days. Even if the weather is not favorable, it rains, they must dry in the kitchen to sell.
After drying, the fragrance will be colored for the feet, usually red, pink, sometimes orange, green, purple … to add more eye-catching, then dried again to dry. Each bundle of incense will have 20 sticks and are sold by people around the roads or to tourists, but mainly in the Quang Uyen fair.
Because incense of Phia Thap Quang Uyen incense village has a natural scent of frankincense, which is flammable, when burned, it creates a beauty and can be preserved for a long time, so not only families in Cao Bang but the surrounding areas. There are also a lot of users like Bac Kan and Ha Giang.
Today, even though it has to compete with many types of incense, with many types of designs, but due to its good quality, many people believe in, so even though each bundle of incense can not sell much money, people here are still optimistic. maintain faith in the profession as a way of expressing gratitude to fathers passing the profession to their children and grandchildren.
Moreover, according to the villagers, incense is a product that connects the survivors and their ancestors in the underworld, so those who make this clown must have a clean mind and respectful heart, which is reason. Because all the people here are very enthusiastic and welcoming even with strangers.
Interesting experiences at Phia Thap incense village
Coming to the tourist community of Phia Light, visitors are not only instructed by indigenous people to make a fragrance, are photographed with super unique scent bunches, but also participate in a lot of work. Everyday such as: harvesting crops on terraced fields, learning about the local culture, exchanging arts, enjoying delicious cuisine and cycling around the village to discover hidden beauty at this place.
Revealing that, in the village, there are dumplings filled with sweet green beans and super-fragrant and hot cocoa coffee in the village. want to fly ”, so you definitely cannot miss ..
But the most attractive point in the village of Phia Thap incense for the “virtual saints” is the immense sunflower garden planted in the middle of the village. The garden greets visitors with a rattan welcome gate and is full of colorful flags fluttering in the wind.
As soon as you enter, visitors will immediately be overwhelmed by the brilliant yellow color that seems to overwhelm the sun of the flowers. It seems to suit the climate and soil, so the flowers here are quite big, tall and dark yellow, making it possible to capture super realistic virtual living pictures no matter what angle you stand in, any style you create. .
Staying while traveling to Phia Thap incense village
Traveling is quite fast, so you can stay at the homestay in Cao Bang city such as: Classique Homestay, Primrose Homestay, Cao Bang Eco Homestay, Full House Cao Bang, Sa’s Home or Jodevi Homestay …
If you want to experience the lifestyle of the people of Phia Thap village , choose Mr. Kim’s Homestay, with its design according to the familiar 2-storey wooden house architecture of the Nung ethnic people. Although its appearance may not be very eye-catching, the inside is very clean and full of blankets, cushions, lamps, fans, curtains … plus the owner knows how to make a lot of delicious specialties, so surely will definitely give you “extreme” rest moments.
Life is a journey, moreover on the beloved S-shaped strip, there are so many unique cultures waiting for you to explore, so what are you waiting for without fulfilling your youth with the trip? Let’s go to Phia Thap incense village in Cao Bang !
Photo: Internet
