Author: Erik

Black Pyramid Mountain Post Box

TL;DR – There’s a postbox at the top of a mountain at 2375 м. I went for it a week ago, but it’s probably too early to expect anything mailed from it yet (2021-09-27). UPDATE 2021-10-11: Postcards are starting to arrive!

Sochi mountain postal box

As a postcrosser – and in general – I’m lucky to live in a city that it beautiful, touristy, hosted a wide variety of World class sporting events, interconnected with a UNESCO WHS, and borders a “rare” country. There were also many postage stamps issued dedicated to our city, events that took place here, our flora and fauna, which is also nice. All this is a great basis for postcard exchanges!

Last year I discovered yet another interesting and cool way to postcross: a postbox at the top of Black Pyramid mountain in our city! And a year later I decided to try it out.

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Qusayr ‘Amra, Jordan

Qusayr ‘Amra was built between 730 – 740 AD. This desert establishment was both a fortress with a garrison and a residence/pleasure palace that comprises a reception hall and hammam, all richly decorated with figurative murals, which depict hunting and dancing scenes as well as craftsmen at work, and represent the transition between Byzantine culture and the new Islamic era. It is located in present-day eastern Jordan.

Qusayr ‘Amra was placed on the World Heritage List in 1985.

Jordan postcard

Jordan stamp postmark

 

The Monastery in Petra, Jordan

Petra is a historic and archaeological city in Jordan, and is famous for its rock-cut architecture and water conduit system. It was inhabited by the Nabataeans, nomadic Arabs, and became their capital by second century BC. UNESCO has described Petra as “one of the most precious cultural properties of man’s cultural heritage”. The Monastery, or Ad Deir, pictured on this postcard, is a monumental building carved out of rock.

Petra Jordan

Jordan postage

La Corbière Lighthouse in Jersey

Jersey is the largest of the Channel Islands – an archipelago in the English Channel between England and France. It is a self-governing dependency of the United Kingdom, with a mix of British and French cultures. Jersey is most notable for being one of the world’s largest offshore finance centers.

La Corbière is the extreme south-western point of Jersey. The name means “a place where crows gather“. However, seagulls have long since displaced the crows from their coastal nesting sites.

Jersey postcard

Jersey postmark stamps

Mount Fuji, the sacred symbol of Japan

Mount Fuji has become famous throughout the world and is considered to be the symbol of Japan. It is 3,776 meters tall active volcano located 100 km southwest of Tokyo and is visible from there on clear days. Mount Fuji’s exceptionally symmetrical cone is frequently depicted in art and photography. It is a UNESCO World Heritage List site since 2013.

Japan Mt FujiJapan stamp postmark

Devon House Mansion in Jamaica

Jamaica is a Caribbean island nation. The name comes from the indigenous people’s, the Taíno, language, and means the “Land of Wood and Water”. The Taíno people were virtually exterminated by Spanish colonists, and today the population of Jamaica consists predominantly of the descendants of African slaves brought by English settlers to work the sugar estates. This makes this postcard interesting: the the Devon House Mansion is the former residence of George Stiebel, Jamaica’s first black millionaire. It has been restored, and today it is operated as a house museum and National Heritage Site.

Jamaica postcard

Jamaica postcard

How to get your mail postmarked at Russia’s northernmost post office

Russia’s northernmost post office is located on the Hooker Island, which is part of the Franz Josef Land archipelago. It’s probably really hard to find someone who’s staying or going there, let alone convince them to send you mail. I’m not sure they have any stock of postcards at that post office, but they do have awesome postmark!

Franz Josef Land postmark

The most realistic way to receive mail from there, it seems, is to send prepared mail item with return address, and enough stamps. And here’s how you do this according to the Russian Post..

Send prepared cover or postcard to the following address. The mail item must have enough Russian postage stamps for it to be delivered from Russia to you.

Please note, that maritime traffic to the island is from mid-June until September.

Отделение Почты - Начальнику отделения
бухта Тихая, о-в Гукера 
Архипелаг Земля Франца-Иосифа, 1
Приморский район
Архангельская область
РОССИЯ
163110

Well, in 2020 I did this in January, and my postcards came back with very awesome clear postmarks. When I tried this again in winter of 2021, and again in spring, my envelope were returned with a note from Arkhangelsk that that post office is closed years ago. Confused, I wrote a question to Russian Post, and they replied with the above info.

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Ivory Coast

Ivory Coast or Côte d’Ivoire is African country with beach resorts and rainforests, and it is world’s largest exporter of cocoa beans. Prior to its colonization by Europeans, Ivory Coast was home to several states. It was colonized by France in 1893, and achieved independence in 1960.

Fun fact: Abidjan, Ivory Coast’s largest city, is the city with the third largest French speaking population anywhere in the world.

Ivory Coast postcard

Ivory Coast stamp