She travels Overland

 I can't quite believe I'm in back in India, and in Kerala again.  I'm searching through some emails , looking for my train , and the search reveals emails between my friend, Clair, in which we are hooking up for the start of the Cochin- Darjeeling TucTuc ralley in 2006.   A group of crazy (!!) Brits each put together £2-3000 per team, to buy brand new TucTucs, which they ten raced across India, starting in cochin across the country to the mountainous, tea growing area: Darjeeling, still on my India bucket list.  The race took some 3 weeks, with many breakdowns and adventures along the way: such as sleeping beside the road, and relying on the hospitality on India to feed them , or give them shelter.  They then donated the TucTuc to the Indian TuTuc drivers association so that they could disburse them  to the most needy.  A TucTuc can bring a cash income for a struggling family.   This time I see businesses: cafes, restaurants, ...

 I returned to Ankara and spent my last few days in Ankara planning, booking my trip to India whilst we watched Erdogan crash the Turkish Lira, and the economy with it. We couldn't quite believe that UK is not in the list of passports that can apply on-line for an eVisa. I tried anyway, paid $99 , thinking it was a mistake in the  algorithm! I got a polite email saying British passport holders must apply at an Indian mission, preferably in my home country.  Travel in and out of India is only allowed by plane, no land borders are open, due to these COVID-19 times, so reluctantly I booked a flight from Ankara to Dubai, and thinking I was taking advantage of super low Turkish Lira my onward flight from Dubai to Cochin, Kerala. They charged me in United Arab Emirate Dirhams, so whilst "cheap" the price was not rock bottom. I had heard about one lady who flew from Stansted to Split in Croatia for just £4, whilst I spent €300 in train fares just getting to Venice, is. fossil-fu...