Lao PDR - Ethnic minorities - A Hmong woman washing hemp yarn in the river

After boiling in ash water to turn the hemp yarn a white colour, the skeins of hemp fibre are washed in the Nam Khiew river (a tributary of the Nam Kang), Ban Tatong, Phongsaly province, Lao PDR. Making hemp fabric is a long and laborious process; the end result is a strong durable cloth with qualities similar to linen which the Hmong women use to make their traditional clothing. In Lao PDR, hemp is now only cultivated in remote mountainous areas of the north. The remote and roadless village of (Photo by In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images)