Thursday is normally ‘commentary’ day here at Cairnscommunications – and today my comment comes in the form of a ‘picture study’.

We spent two days at Sapa this week – and as part of that, visited the Hmong village in the valley below.

The Hmong are an interesting people – they came from China around 400 years ago, and are a distinct ethnic minority in Vietnam.

Essentially subsitence farmers, they eke out a living around Sapa by latching onto the growing number of tourists and sell ‘handicrafts’.

It’s like being surrounded by a group of geese – but very, very friendly geese.

They followed us on our 5km ‘trek’ through their village, and two other ‘ethnic minority’ villages nearby. They were always friendly, always solicitous, always helpful. But also, always with an eye on selling souvenirs at the end of the process.