It's my birthday...

...and I'll damn well cry if I want to.

Today has been an odd kind of day. I woke up at about seven, ate a banana, and took a bath (probably the only one I'll get in the next six weeks - bliss). The hotel I was staying at was an early birthday present from my parents - thanks, Mum and Dad! (Quite clearly I mean that the two nights accomodation were the present, not the actual hotel. As far as I know, I do not live in Monopoly, and therefore, do not own a hotel.)

I then caught a cab to a very grotty backpackers inn, installed myself there, and hit the streets. At the old hotel, I was incredibly nervous about crossing the road. From the roof, where I spent a considerable amount of time trying to analyse traffic patterns - there were none - the motos and cyclos looked like swarms of locusts, buzzing in loose clouds, in vaguely the same direction. It was terrifying.

Well, it turns out that my fear of crossing that particular road wasn't purely based on pasty-faced Western nervousness - it was bloody well founded. The hotel was on the corner of one of the busiest intersections in Saigon. The traffic where I am now is much calmer, although crossing the road still entails a certain kind of existentialism, or alternately, a Zen approach: be at one with the road. Do not avoid the traffic - let the traffic avoid YOU.

So, a little less apprehensive about being squished under a moto, I've spent the last few hours just wandering the streets. Called my family and had a little cry - only I was calling over the internet at an internet cafe so my snotty-nosed display of homesickness was kind of funny, and public, rather than tragically sad. At the moment I'm trying to figure out what to do next. Here are my options:

Go to Hanoi.

Pros: I really, really think I'd like it there. Beautiful French colonial architecture. A train ride up the coast. Stop off at Hoi An.
Cons: 40 hour train trip each way (30 on the more expensive express). Fairly costly.

Stay in Saigon.

Pros: Already here. Could do a three-day tour of the Mekong, stay in the city a few days, then take the train to Hoi An and spend a few days there. Less travelling time. A bit less costly.
Cons: I've come all this way and I want to see Hanoi!

So, what do you think? I am opening this up to a poll. Please leave a yea or nea in the comments section regarding whether I should go north or not.

Also, thank you to all the people who have sent me birthday wishes. I really, truly appreciate it - makes me feel a bit less cut off from the sinful Western world. So - the Mekong or Hanoi?