She travels Overland

  I arrive from Istanbul airport, and take a bus downtown to Kariköy (pronounced carry - ku) a two-hour ride for just TRL 60.  When I was in Turkey in November £1 bought just 20 TRL.  Now due to Erdogan's disastrous handling of the economy, £1 buys TRL 19-20, more than a 30% drop in value.  I walk around Karikoy for an hour and a quarter with my huge Berghaus rucksack, without data, looking for Juliet kitchen and rooms.  Lots of kind, well-intentioned Istanbulis help me, including one couple who send me in the wrong direction, unintentionally, when I'm actually really close.  In Juliet's I'm in a downstairs dorm room, and on the first night I have the room to myself.  Karikoy is a super-cool, trendy area of  Istanbul, on a peninsula on the Asian side of the City.  There are loads of bars, selling beer,lots of delicious bakeries, loads of cool food joints selling everything from falafel, burgers, hotdogs, gyros, seafood, Chinese food, Vegan food.  You have to get a ferry

  Last days in a place you love are always eventful.  So after saying goodbye to Sivananda friends in Varkala, I stayed on a few more days, until I braved the sunrise train to Coimbatore.  8 hours in the First class aircon.  what could go wrong?  Nothing as it happened. At Coimbatore railway station I hired an  air-con  taxi entailed to take me the 16km to Isha, Sadh Guru's now-famous ashram. I was welcomed at the Welcome desk, but not having a confirmed booking they put me in touch with the kindly desk, who suggested I call the overseas helpdesk to create an International profile.  However, the young man on this helpdesk, said that I need a confirmed booking to make a profile.  I politely said my "Ohm Namah Shivaya " and took a waiting autorickshaw back to Coimbatore, booking myself into the IBIS French hotel chain.   I slept at ten and got up for breakfast of Idli and strong black coffee.  I hailed an autorickshaw myself and made the short journey to the railway station