The past four days have been filled with travel. On Thursday, I sat in a tuk tuk for 4 hours with the Dutch family and Naomi the Aussie to go to a festival that ended the day before. We went to ate and went to a temple which took all of about 2 hours and then we sat in the tuk tuk for another 4 hours.

I had a gut feeling that the festival was over, but I was so desperate to DO something so I went. I probably would've been better off chilling by the waterfall.

The next day, I spent 6 hours in a bus to Savannaket and then on Saturday, I took an 7.5 hours in a bus to Vietnam where I waited for 3 hours to catch an overnight bus to Hanoi.

All in all, I spent about 25 hours in a bus in a 70 hour period. I'm recovering from a seroius case of numb ass and stiff knee.

My first impression of Vietnam was excitement- GREEN! Green rice fields, green trees, big green mountains. Hooray!

Then I arrived in Dongha which is just a pit stop when crossing the border. It was a dank town. I booked my ticket to Hanoi and I walked around a bit. My thought was that it was the kind of town that people who grow up there can't wait to leave. The woman in the travel agency confirmed this thought. She wants to move to Ho Chi Minh City.

I was happy to be leaving but just sitting there that feeling of isolation started to set in. There had only been two other tourists on the bus from Laos, which had surprised me, and they were going to Hue. Including the two girls on my bus from Laos, I only saw 3 westerners in the town. Obviously, it is nice to see life as it is for the locals, but I was in a new country and started feeling a little anxious.

I was able to identify the feeling and keep it at bay. I eagerly anticipated the arrival of the bus to Hanoi. When it arrived there were only 2 English speakers on it. I befriended them but they were leaving for home the next day.

I arrived in Hanoi this morning at 5 AM. I was interested to see that the town was still sleeping. There were however a number of motos on the road. Most of the drivers have a serious case of honkitis- excessive and arbitrary horn use. There weren't that many cars, bikes, motos or pedestrians on the road and everyone kept honking at each other.

The bus company took me to a hotel but they wouldn't have a room until 8 AM so they made up the bed of a guy who worked there and lived on the roof of the building and let me sleep there.

( I need to interupt this posting to say that the place that I am staying is playing Tenacious D- kind of makes me miss my friends.)

I woke up at 8:30 and was told that my room would not be ready until noon. This was a huge disappointement but I took the opportunity to look around and see if I could find a hostel that had been recommended to me because I was still feeling a bit isolated and really wanted to avoid lonliness from setting in.

I could tell I really liked Hanoi but had been told it was hard to meet other solo travelers in Vietnam because it did not have the same communal guest houses you would find elsewhere in SE Asia.

When I arrived at Hanoi Backpackers Hostel I knew I had found my new home. The Vietnamese woman who received me spoke English with an Australian accent and was very friendly and helpful and as I spoke to her, l all of my anxiety slipped away.

It is a dorm. Usually I prefer a private room because it is nice to have a secure place for your things and to spread out your toiletries and settle in. It is the same rate as I would've had for a private room (which is uncommon- I would've gotten a really good deal on the room for $6).

There are only 3 women in the room currently and there is a bathroom in the room where they seem to leave their toiletries so really, I am just sharing a room with 2 others which is great. The beds are really cozy, the shower is the best I've had- free Internet and breakfast are included in the room rate and there is a communal space downstairs and a rooftop bar.

It has only been open for 7 months and is not yet listed in Lonely Planet. It is one of the best bits of travel advice I have gotten on the road. Once it gets into LP, it'll be booked solid. I'm happy to be an early discoverer.

On my way back to the other hotel to pick up my bag, (you are not committed to a room until you see it) I passed a place selling silk sleeping bag liners so I picked one up for $7! It is not stretchy like the kind you can get at REI, but I'll take it at a $40 savings! Now I am all set for my trekking!