Laos forum

Appreciate that this is being posted waaaaaaaaaaaaay after the original post but I found that the slower, local blue bus from LP to VV far more of an adventure and half the cost - stopping at loads of lovely villages along the way. Much more comfortable and safer too as the VIP bus drivers go at suicidal speeds around those blind corners just to deliver you green with motion sickness 2 hours earlier than the local bus.

Just get a tuktuk to the bus station for a few kip and grab some brekkie from there as the food stalls are pretty reasonable and enjoy the trip!

I'll bet you bus fare that some of the regular contributors like Somtam and Rufus will recommend flying over the bus, particularly if you don't plan to stopover in Vang Vieng along the way. The first bit from Vientiane to V.V. is relatively flat, but after that you'll definitely be going through twisty-turny roads in the mountains. Just how bad is that vertigo?

Here's my trip report too on taking a long-distance bus from Savannakhet to Pakse in southern Laos. It isn't exactly the same, but might sum up what you can look forward to: http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/tripreports/10314_trip-report--the-bus-to-pakse

Personally, I very much enjoyed the bus trip I took in 2006 from Luang Prabang to Vientiane, but it was quite a bit of work too. Flying isn't exactly charmless either, as the views from up there are spectacular. Let us know what you decide and how it turned out. Cheers.