Healing Forest, a slow day with the plants
A day built around one question: what grows in the forest at Da Ban, and what did people on this island use it for before there was a pharmacy in Duong Dong. The morning is a slow walk with someone who knows the plants. The afternoon is a farm where some of them are now grown on purpose, so that nobody has to dig them out of the forest.
At a glance
- Duration
- About ten hours, 07:30 - 17:30
- Size
- Shared, maximum 12
- Starts
- Hotel pick-up from 07:30
- Ends
- Back at your hotel by about 17:30
- Difficulty
- Easy, 2 of 5; ages 6 and up
- From
- USD 79 per person
What the day is, and what it is not
This is a walk for looking and listening, not for covering distance. Two to three kilometres in two and a half hours is slow on purpose: the person leading it stops every few minutes at a plant, explains what island families used it for in folk remedies, and shows how people were taught to tell a useful plant from a poisonous one that looks almost the same. That last part is the one most people remember.
Nothing is picked, dug or broken. The forest at Da Ban is not a garden and we do not use it as one, which is why the afternoon exists: the herb farm grows the same kinds of plants in rows, under control, so that the knowledge can be used without stripping the forest. Seeing a plant wild in the morning and cultivated in the afternoon is the shape of the day.
It is not a medical consultation and nothing on this page is a promise about your health. What you will hear is what plants were used for according to traditional recipes - which is interesting, and is history, and is not a prescription.
The morning at Da Ban stream
Da Ban stream is about 10 km from central Duong Dong. From the entrance it is roughly a fifteen-minute walk through forest to the water, where the stream runs over the wide flat stone slabs that give the place its name - da ban, the table rocks. The entry ticket is included.
The walk itself runs from about 08:15 to 10:45 along the forest paths and the stream edge. There are rest stops for the stream, for photographs and, when there is water, for sitting with your feet in it. Most of the time is spent standing still beside something green while it is explained, which suits children better than people expect.
Lunch is a picnic of local dishes on the rocks by the stream, from about 10:45 to 12:00. In the dry months the stream can run low or almost stop; on those days we eat on a shaded slab or at a rest shelter, and the morning leans more on the forest and less on the water. We would rather tell you that now than have you arrive in March expecting a waterfall.
The middle of the day: pepper or bees
After lunch the van goes to a pepper garden or a bee farm, depending on the season. We have not fixed one farm for every date, because what is worth seeing changes through the year and we would rather take you to whichever is working that week.
- At the pepper garden you walk the rows of vines on their posts, hear how pepper is grown and dried, and make pepper salt by hand from dried pepper - that part works all year. Picking fresh pepper only happens in the harvest season.
- At the bee farm you see a frame lifted out of a hive and taste the different honeys. Extracting honey yourself depends on whether that farm is harvesting when you visit, which we confirm when you book rather than promise now.
If you need to be back early, the short version of the day drops this stop and returns you at about 15:00, roughly seven and a half hours in total. Ask for it when you book.
The afternoon at the herb farm
The herb farm belongs to a nationally recognised traditional medicine practitioner. It is the full version of the visit, about two and a half hours, and it runs in this order.
| Time on site | What happens |
|---|---|
| First 30 minutes | A herbal drink, then a walk round the beds - the plants from the morning, now labelled and grown in rows, and why they are grown here rather than collected in the forest |
| Next 20 minutes | In planting season you plant one medicinal seedling and put your name on its tag. Outside planting season this becomes a look at the nursery and the drying area instead |
| Next 40 minutes | The preparation room. You weigh, blend and pack one foot-soak pack to take home. Herbal wine and a poultice are demonstrated and shown as finished products, because the wine takes weeks to steep and the poultice hours to cook |
| Next 45 minutes | A warm herbal foot soak of 30 to 45 minutes in the garden of the calligraphy cafe, with one coffee or herbal tea |
| Last 15 minutes | The farm counter, then back to the van |
About the preparation room: it would be easy to sell this as making your own herbal wine and poultice. You cannot do either in forty minutes, so you watch both being made, see what the finished versions look like, and make the one thing that can honestly be finished in a session - the foot-soak pack, which you keep.
In the calligraphy cafe you can ask for a character written for you. Whether there is a charge for that is confirmed when you book; we will not guess on this page.
The farm has its own counter with its herbal products, and it is the one point in the day where anything is for sale. Buying is optional. The guide does not take you to any other shop.
Day by day
Da Ban stream, a pepper garden or bee farm, the herb farm
Pick-up from 07:30 within Duong Dong, Ong Lang and Long Beach. The drive to Da Ban is short; by about 08:00 you are at the entrance and walking in.
From 08:15 the herbal walk: two to three kilometres of forest path and stream rock, slowly, with stops at the plants. Lunch by the stream at about 10:45. Around midday the van moves on to the pepper garden or the bee farm for an hour.
From 14:00 the herb farm: the beds, planting a seedling when the season allows, the preparation room, then the foot soak with a drink in the calligraphy cafe garden. You leave at about 16:30 and are back at your hotel by about 17:30.
Prices
| Departure | Price | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Shared, up to 12 | USD 79 per person | Fixed date, joined with other travellers |
| Private, two travellers | USD 139 per person | Your own vehicle and guide, your start time |
| Private, three or more | Quoted on request | Tell us the number and ages |
| Children 6 - 11 | Rate on request | Welcome on the shared and private versions |
Why USD 79: the day is about ten hours and carries an entry ticket, a lunch, a farm stop, the herb farm session, the foot soak and something you take home. How the prices on this site are built is on the prices page.
What the price includes
- Air-conditioned vehicle for pick-up and drop-off within the standard zone
- A guide speaking Vietnamese and English for the whole day
- A person who knows the plants, for the forest walk
- Entry ticket to Da Ban stream
- Drinking water all day
- Picnic lunch by the stream
- The pepper garden or bee farm activity
- The full herb farm visit: herbal drink, planting in season, the preparation room, one foot-soak pack you blend yourself, a 30 to 45 minute foot soak and one drink
- Travel insurance for the day
What it does not include
- Drinks beyond lunch and the one drink at the cafe
- Anything bought at the farm counter, the pepper garden or the bee farm
- Calligraphy, if a charge applies - confirmed at booking
- Tips
- Pick-up outside Duong Dong, Ong Lang and Long Beach, quoted when you book
Season by season
| Months | The stream | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| About June - October | Full, at its best | The rocks are mossy and very slippery. Shoes with grip matter, and the guide decides on the day whether going down to the water is safe when it runs high |
| About December - April | Can run low or dry | Firm, dry paths. The day becomes more about the forest and the plants than the water |
| Pepper harvest | Not relevant | Fresh pepper picking only in season; pepper salt is made year round |
| Honey extraction | Not relevant | Depends on the bee farm and the month; confirmed when you book |
The wet and dry months shift by a few weeks from year to year, which is why the table says about. There is more on the island calendar in when to go.
Gallery
Who this day is not for
- Anyone who finds walking on wet, mossy rock difficult. The forest path is easy; the stream edge in the rainy months is not, and it is where a lot of the morning happens.
- People looking for a medical treatment. This is a day about how plants were used in folk medicine. Nobody on it will diagnose you or tell you what to take.
- Anyone who should not use a warm foot soak without advice: if you are pregnant, diabetic with complications in the feet, have an open wound on the feet or severe varicose veins, tell us before you book so it can be checked with the practitioner. The water temperature is checked with a thermometer before anyone puts their feet in.
- Travellers who want a waterfall and a swim in March. In the dry months the stream can be low or dry.
- Children under six. It is a ten-hour day and most of it is standing and listening.
- People who want to cover ground. If you want a real trek, look at Trek & Heal instead.
Questions travellers ask most
How fit do we need to be?
Not very. It is 2 of 5 on our scale: two to three kilometres in the forest at a slow pace with many stops, and about half a kilometre around the farm. Actual walking is about two and a half hours in the morning and half an hour in the afternoon.
The difficult part is not distance but footing. On wet rock by the stream you need shoes that grip, not sandals.
Can children come?
From six years old, yes. The forest stops are short and the blending at the farm is hands-on, which helps. The child rate for ages 6 to 11 is confirmed with your quote.
The day is long, so for younger children the short version, which returns at about 15:00, often works better.
Do we have to buy anything at the farm?
No. The farm counter is the one place in the day where products are on sale, it is at the very end, and buying is entirely optional. The foot-soak pack you blend yourself is included and is yours to take home.
What happens if it rains heavily?
The day still runs. The guide may keep you away from the stream if the water is high, and the morning shifts to the forest paths.
If conditions make the forest unsafe the guide changes the route on the day; that decision is not negotiable, and you will understand why when you see the rocks.
Read next
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