The driver who did the transfer from the accommodation came looking like he walked out of his living room, coughed without covering his mouth and spit through the window.
The trip was fine. It was 9.5 h long (for 300 km) because the road going south from Vientiane is horrible, but that's not the carrier's fault. The driver and the ticket seller didn't know a word of English and acted as if there were no foreigners in the van. They didn't understand when I was trying to ask them how long the break is going to be (not even in broken Lao).