Meet Vietnamese craftswoman Ha, as she warmly welcomed a group of Malaysian tourists in fluent Malay at her handicrafts shop in the Quang Phu Cau Incense Village in Hue, Vietnam, recently.

Ha, 38, interacted effortlessly with the visitors, including the writer, demonstrating how to make various types of incense and deftly sticking the paste onto joss sticks the traditional way.
The mother of two and her husband, Hau, 42, jointly run their shop and had previously spent 10 years working in Johor Bahru, speaking fondly of their time in Malaysia.
To create an incense stick, Ha first selected the ingredients, which included cinnamon, cardamom, clove, anise, sandalwood, lemongrass, and jasmine bloom essence.
These eco-friendly and natural ingredients are mixed with water to create the incense paste, giving it a brighter yellow colour and its distinctive, pleasant fragrance.
“The incense sticks are basically used for worship rituals and are also good for meditation because of their calming properties, while the lemongrass ones are effective at warding off mosquitoes,” she enthused.
Hau said the incense sticks are then sun-dried for two days to achieve a dry and crispy texture, although it had been raining heavily for several days during our Vietnam sojourn, which slowed down the drying process.

These are priced from 40,000 to 200,000 Vietnamese dong (VND) per bundle, depending on the fragrance, and Malaysian ringgit (RM) is also accepted.
Under the gentle sunlight, each bundle of incense fans out in vibrant colours like blooming flowers, creating an incredibly beautiful background for visitors to pose freely — and this batch of Malaysian tourists clad in Vietnamese traditional attire was no exception.
As a parting shot, Hau hoped that more Malaysians will find their way to Hue, especially to his village, where he will be able to converse in Malay with his visitors and extend the best of Vietnamese hospitality and warmth.
According to records, the traditional incense-making craft in Hue has been established since the time of the Nguyen Dynasty, dating back about 700 years.
In the past, this village supplied incense to the royal court and to people in the Thuan Hoa – Phu Xuan region. Despite experiencing many historical upheavals, it has been preserved and developed to this day.
It is regarded as a must-visit destination for anyone interested in Vietnamese culture and traditional crafts, and is about a two-hour drive from the main city of Danang.