It depends. Sometimes we are with locals, sometimes not. Yesty, we happened across a guy who was with us in Phonsavan. We flew here to Vientiane, but he took the bus. Apparently it was more of the "local" bus type. The trip took 11.5 hrs, largely because the chauffeur treated the van like his ambulatory business, buying possums here, selling them their, doing the same with fruits and vegetables. Also, one lady needed a cellphone charger, so the driver took her around to three different shops in own town so she could find one.