I’ll be traveling to Vietnam soon and I had looked for a travel report or something of the like on here and didn’t find anything. I’ll be mostly in Hanoi, Hue, and Hoi An and would love to send in travel mode. Any postcrossers who live or have traveled to Vietnam, do you know where to get postcards in those cities? Do major tourist spots (like some of the UNESCO WHS) sell them?
Thanks!
Thank you for asking this question @mty as I will also be traveling to Vietnam later this year.
I look forward to learning along with you, and would be grateful if you could post details of your postcards and stamp hints, postboxes and how travel mode works for you once in Vietnam.
Thanks!
I spent two months in Hanoi last year and also visited Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh. I wasn’t into postcrossing at the time, but I remember seeing postcards in the typical souvenir shops and at post offices.
You might also want to look up local artists on social media. I visited this place in Ho Chi Minh City and I really liked: Oh Quao.
In Hanoi, one of my favorite shops, which has a lot of illustrations and art, is Collective Memory. I don’t recall if they had postcards, but you can contact them on Instagram, they speak English.
I truly regret not buying any postcards while I was in Vietnam. It was an incredible experience. Have a wonderful trip! It’s very hot this time of year, so take care.
In Hanoi, there was this amazing street near the lake that in the evenings (and weekends I think) is closed to traffic. There was a post office there and they also sold postcards. I also bought some at the Vietnamese Women Museum. And maybe other places, I somehow cannot remember even if it was just last December!
In Hoi An, there are many many tourist shops and it’s not difficult to find postcards, I found at least 2-3 shops. Also head to the post office in the central area (I am bad at directions but I can look on the map and help if needs be…) they had postcards for sale there too and of course stamps. This was 2 years ago.
Looks like you are not going to HCMC/Saigon? The historical post office there is a postcrosser’s paradise!
I was staying near that lake (Hoan Kiem) and the post office there is where I sent my cards from Hanoi. The guy there was really helpful. I spent 33k VND to send most of my postcards, except one to Singapore, which I think was 29k VND.
I also bought postcards at the Woman’s Museum and they had a good selection.
Yeah, it was really easy to find postcards in Hoi An. I don’t remember seeing any at the post office there, though. But I was in a hurry so I might have missed them. There I paid 35k VND to send each of my postcards. I don’t know why the price was higher.
I’m definitely sad that I missed the central post office in Ho Chi Minh City.
I’ve just come back from Viet Nam last week. I had traveled Hue, Da Nang and Hoi An, and I also sent postcards for me, my friends and the postcrossers.
I bought the postcards at Pham Ngu Lao St. in Hue (Hue walking street). Many souvenir shops sell many designs of postcards. (I think it’s easy to find the postcards there, easier than in many places in Thailand, my hometown.) Moreover, if you go to Ba Na Hills in Da Nang, you can buy its official postcards, too.
Moreover, you can buy some postcards in Hoi An, but I think it’s too expensive there. (Some postcard shops sold a postcard costs VND 40,000 each there.)
Postcards in Hue and Ba Na Hills costs VND 10,000 for each postcards. I had seen many postcards in Hoi An but I didn’t buy it, because I think and bought postcards from Hue was ok to send at Hoi An Post Office.
Ps. International rates for a postcard (as I’ve sent them at the post office) is VND 30,000-35,000. It’s similar to the rates in Thailand (THB 50).