SilverNodashi wrote:In South Africa,
Over here they're also sold for about that amount, that's why I said you should buy your stuff in China (US$2.44 including shipping for a NodeMCU with a CH340 or US$2.82 for one with a CP2102).
On topic:
While it's true the diode only protects your USB port and in theory you can just bridge the pads/override the diode, you first have to find out why the diode blew up before replacing (or bridging) it.
It did this for a purpose: perhaps something major is defective?