After a while you'd find it amazingly funny that buses in Lao generally abide by a few rules - number one of which is never fill up before picking up the passengers, even if, in this classic example (parody) the kew lot mei (bus station) was right smack beside the petrol station.
Number 2 - expect, and be prepared for a lengthy breakdown by the roadside, more often than not in the middle of nowhere, mountains on one side and wild grass and trees growing untamed on the other. While it might be a very welcome toilet break at times, the moral of the story is still to bring some food and water on board, especially after dragging yourself, semi-awake, onto the bus after spending the night drinking Beerlao. Travel in the Lao PDR involves getting up early.
Number 3 - expect loads of stops to pick up people, animals and other things along the way to, um, maximise returns.
In accordance to all 3 rules, (picking up bed frames (!!!) this time - well, at least that's new) we finally rolled into Luang Prabang in the evening, sharing a sawngthaew into the city, dropping off near the JoMa bakery, where you'll find half the backpacker population of Luang Prabang in the morning.
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