From Vientiane to Luang Prabang by road is around 370 km. This took 12 hours with about 2/3 of this is over mountain roads rising to around 1300 m. The 0700 tuk-tuk pick up was punctual and after the town pick ups, the 0800 VIP bus left on time. The bus was comfortable enough with semi-effective airconditioning, passable legroom, reclinable seats and a toilet (which we did not brave). Water, rubbish bags and hand wipes were handed out on departure - very civilised for this park of Asia.
We made one short stop at 1030 and another at 1400 for lunch, which was included in the ticket price (although, not being able to read the ticket, we found this out after ordering) - we chose the noodle soup. Other than a few brief stops to take on or drop off passengers it was then non-stop, arriving at around 2015.
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| Lunch stop |
The scenery initially was flat farmland. Around Vang Vieng, about 1/3 of the way, there were large karst formations - rather like Phang Nga bay except these rose out of the land not the sea. After the lunch stop we rose into the mountains, which were impressive. The road was sealed (mostly) but very winding, passing through several mountain villages. Too bumpy to do suduko! The bamboo houses clung to the edge of the road with vertical drops behind.
While the trip was long we were pleased to have an extremely cautious driver. Up in the mountains there are nearly vertical drops of several hundred metres.The driver was extremely cautious,the sort that you would gladly have a whip round for in the UK, but the guy hardly got a thank you.
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