"Men have been coming here for over 40 years. It's a place where we are open and can feel at peace and close to nature. We play tennis, exercise, meditate and swim in the river. It's my favourite place."

A visit to Banana Island where I was stunned to find a nudist colony of dozens of men. In the very conservative Hanoi, this little stretch of land is a small spot of bohemia where the men who visit are liberated and happy as can be. It feels strange to be just a few hundred metres away from the bustle of the city in this oasis of calm

"She is three years old. I am trying to sell many paintings - I'm saving up to send her to school next year. She spends all day here with me but she is very patient as long as she has her balloons."

A street artist's daughter passes the time with her balloons in the street.

"A few years ago a terrible thing happened in the lake - thousands of fish died and were washed up floating in the water. The smell was unimaginable and the fishermen and businesses by the lake couldn't work for days. There were around 200 tonnes of them and it took days and days for people remove them from the lake.”

Lockdown, sanitation problems and disease in the lake, made fishing in West Lake a very difficult job. Regardless, the lake is always teeming with fishermen bobbing in little boats and waiting patiently for the catch of the day.

"Mood."

Kay found some grafitti she related to on Banana Island.

"You can carry anything and everything on a bicycle.”

The Vietnamese innovation and boldness with bicycles never ceases to amaze and alarm me.

"Would you like a beer?"

My-An has lived in a floating community for her whole life. She sells drinks and necklaces to cruise ships by passing them up to her customers on a giant pole.

"Just a short-back-and-sides."

Afresco haircuts by the lake at the Christmas market.

"It's her first tet so we are going to wear the matching áo dài."

A mother and daughter in traditional Vietamese dress on at the Temple of Literature on Lunar New Year.

"At university I used to actively participate in the forums about politics and the movement for free and quality education. In those times, we protested for months, developing different ways to show disagreement with the system and asking for changes in the educational system. That's how I participated organizing batucadas, flash mobs, and specific ways to show that not all protest was vandalism and violence in the streets. Eleven years after, one of the students who lead this social and education movement, Gabriel Boric, was elected president of my country, Chile, in December 2021, and many students who participated at that time, were appointed last week as ministers and congresspeople. I couldn't be happier and proud of all that happened."

My fabulous friend (and dance teacher!) Daniela is one of the most interesting people I've met in South East Asia. One of my favourite stories of hers is definitely about the political flash mobs and dance protects she used to help to organise in Chile - the positive changes she helped to implement are clearly still being felt.

"Me and Long, I think we're born like a month apart from each other. And it's just a really funny cultural difference because whenever anyone asks us our age, Long will literally add one or two years. In Vietnam they add like nine months for being in the tummy and then they add a year. We became friends in our late twenties and he kept telling people we were thirty. Every time like a taxi driver or anyone would ask how old we are, he'd always add two years to our age! And I'd snap at him. And now every time someone asks how old are you guys, he turns round to look at me and says "I don't even know anymore" and I have to always answer. It's just like this continued stress between us like "stop adding two years to our age!!!" It's so annoying!"

Anna talks about the biggest point of contention in her friendship with Long. In Vietnam when you celebrate a birthday, you often celebrate your upcoming year; for example, on Sunday it will be 29 years since I've been born yet in Vietnam I might celebrate entering my 30th year. Also, it's common to add on an extra nine months for being in the womb - all leading to a very confusing cultural difference.

"I lost my right arm in a landmine explosion that killed my sister, my brother and my father. After that I lived on the street for many years. Rich people would look down and treat me like an animal. It was a very hard time but I kept going and I learned fifteen languages. Now I will never sell my art to rich people - they didn't help me when I needed it so I won't let them have my art. Because I've lived on the street people think I'm a gangster but I am not a gangster of violence - I am a gangster of art and a gangster of the English language."

I was lucky enough to meet the inspirational street artist Den in Cambodia. There are still 20,000 people killed or maimed per year by landmines. Children account for 50% of the casualties in Cambodia - experts estimate there are still 10 million unexploded landmines in the country | Siem Reap

“The children here don't have many toys but they're always playing. Sticks, rocks and water can be the best toys in the world." Some young boys play in the waters by Topas Riverside Lodge in Sapa.

“We have lived and worked here all our lives."

A couple working on the flower farms at Tay Tuu, just outside of Hanoi.

"Life is too short not to have fun hair."

Julia with her fabulous blue locks.