Top 5 special gifts should be bought when traveling HCMC
After traveling, strolling to explore this sprawling city, if you want to buy some special gifts to give your relatives and friends, let’s explore with Backpackers Team what Ho Chi Minh City specialities are!
1. Non La (Conical Hat/Straw Hat)
Souce: Alice Young – Unspalsh
The Vietnamese conical hat is a tool for shading, covering rain, making fans, while also hiding the face, smile or adding charm to Vietnamese women.
Non La first appeared in the mid-13th century and has gone through the vicissitudes of time and now plays an important role in Vietnamese people’s life, especially farmers.
Where to buy
You can visit Ben Thanh Market (Le Loi St., Dist 1) or Binh Tay Market (57A Thap Muoi, Dist 5) or any souvenir shops you see on the street.
Price: VND20,000-VND60,000
2. Tea & Coffee beans
While many are familiar with Vietnamese coffee and tea, Vietnam is the second largest coffee producing nation in the world and the seventh biggest tea producer in the world, so Tea Leaf and Coffee Beans are considered as one of must-buy souvenirs in Vietnam
Here are some places that you can buy coffee and tea in HCMC
74 Nguyen Ngoc Phuong St., Binh Thanh Dist, HCMC
Tel: +84889035858
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/santorino74/
Buy here: http://www.santorino.org
Santorino’s coffee beans from Dalat highland
Source: Santorino Coffee & Veggies
- Phuc Long Coffee & Tea
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/phuclongcoffeeandtea/
Source: Igor Miske – Unsplash
3. Cashew nuts
Vietnam was the world’s largest cashew nut processor and exporter, so cashew nuts is also a must-buy gift when travelling HCMC
You can find high quality cashew nuts in Ho Chi Minh at:
1. Santorino
74 Nguyen Ngoc Phuong St., Binh Thanh Dist
Tel: +84889035858
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/santorino74/
Price: 500 gram (Pack): 160,000 VND
2. Ben Thanh Market
Le Loi St., Dist 1
Tel: 028 3829 9274
Price: 1 Kilogram ~ VND300,000-320,000
4. Brocade handbag
Brocade is prized possessions for tourists in Vietnam as the opportunity to see and buy such uniquely exquisite, hand-stitched craftsmanship is a rare luxury to those visiting.
You can find brocade handbag in any souvenir shop or you can see them at Ben Thanh Market or The gioi tho cam (43 Do Thua Luan St., Tan Phu Dist.)
Source: Kaotaru
5. Authentic ceramics
Vietnamese pottery and ceramics has a long history spanning back to thousands of years ago, including long before Chinese domination, as archeological evidence supports.
The craftsmen only use their hands to knead the clay into the shape of the bowl, flower vase, etc. Then, they draw lively pictures or patterns on the products and glaze them. After that, these kneaded-clays will be put into the kiln for heating.
Source: Krys Alex
Some famous pottery brand are Minh Long, Dong Trieu, Bat Trang,…
Here are some chain stores that you can buy authentic ceramics
- Gom su Bat Trang
Address: 21 Cong Hoa, Tan Binh Dist.
Fanpage: https://www.facebook.com/dothocungcaocapbattrang/
Website: https://dothobattrang.vn/
- Nha co hai nguoi store
Address: 214/19/2a Nguyen Van Nguyen St., Dist 1 .
Fanpage: https://www.facebook.com/nhacohainguoi.store/
Website: http://nhacohainguoi.com
Source: Facebook Nha Co Hai Nguoi Store
3. Authentique Home
Address: 113 Le Thanh Ton St., Dist 1, HCMC
Tel: +84 8 3822 8052
Fanpage: https://www.facebook.com/authentiquehomevn/
Source: Facebook Authentique Home
Clara, 4th July 2019.
