Leisure & pleasure; Paksan to Phonsavan

The first time we went to Paksan must have been about 10 years ago, we heard about the most wonderful bus trip in Laos  a few years before. The bus went once a week, in fact the bus was a big truck with seats mounted in the back. First time we came a  day late (guess 2004), then we missed it by a couple of hours (2006), in 2008 we showed up a day early, to be sure. But by then the truck got company, in the shape of this yellow old Chinese bus.
It became one of our most memorable and beautiful bus trips ever. By now they say there is a VIP bus once a day, going from Paksan to Phonsavan in about 10 hours...