This is going to take a long time

We arrived into Jodhpur's airport which incidentally looks like a 70s wedding cake; bright white and almost Goan-like. It's warm in the sun but cool in the shade up here. Not quite cold but cool which feels good. From here we now get driven up to Jaisalmer. We are quoted 6000 rupees for the trip, for which lonely planet promises it's only 1800. And so it begins!Point to note, much like Mumbai, there is no particular compulsion to drive on the left here. Things just rocket at you from front and behind. The horn is most important. When it is being used. If not then its least important.Large vehicles can swallow up the potholes in the road. They're built for that. We're in a car and we are not built for that. There starts the long torturous journey from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer on roads that resemble the dark side of the moon; all pitted and noisy with debris. Add to this our ultra cautious driver and it's going to take a while. Ultra cautious should sound positive but the caution only comes with the protection of the vehicle, avoiding situations which could end in light evisceration or a scratch. Not so when blind overtaking or squeezing past a truck full of quarried stone.  All proceeding with a rapid deceleration before eeking up the speed while staring straight into the face of someone else who believes in reincarnation hurtling towards us. We veer and swerve over the road to avoid the holes, pull over a little to allow everything to pass us, drive over half pedestrian crossings which seem to accidentally have created a speed barrier by crumbling bits of road in between the white stripes all as the salt and brown pepper moustache twitches like an extension to the neurones firing.Every now and then a farmyard animal or animals commits to crossing the road. Normally tentatively walking onto it, sometimes with arrogant intention. Always we slow or swerve. Thankfully. I wish I could watch this from high up in the air. It would look like a small child who is unaware of roads and cars playing with toy vehicles, pushing and pulling them across the lanes and speeding up and slowing down. We get overtaken by the German guys who were just starting their haggling at the airport. Our driver promises us he will speed up soon when the 'good road' starts. They flew over the potholes with the confident air of a truck turning only to see if we were the other guys from the airport. 'It's not good to drive like an idiot' our driver tells us when we get onto the good tarmac road. Wise words for the trip I feel.