25.5 Hours is a long, long time for a bus ride

Hey all, I'm in Vientiane, Laos and it is lovely though have only been here since the afternoon. I left Hoi An, Vietnam at 2pm yesterday and arrived at 3:30 today- yikes! Knew it would be a long trip but was mislead by the booking agent- everyone told me I would take the bus to Dong Ha, stay the night in a hotel, and get up early to cross the border. So I bought the ticket from the place that was an extra $6 cause they included the hotel room in the price. Then I found out that only the people going to southern Laos stayed in a hotel- I went up to Vinh, in the north, waited about 2 hours for another bus heading to the border, where they parked the bus and we slept until they opened the border at 7am. The bus wasn't full so it could have been a lot worse, but I couldn't really sleep because some of the worlds loudest snorers I've ever heard were also on the bus- not cool! Anyway, once we crossed the border (they nearly forgot me- a Bangladeshi family had to make them stop cause I wasn't through immigration yet- what a nightmare that would have been to be left at the border!) the scenery in Laos was stunning. It took a long time to get to the city because we had to cross a steep mountain range on little roads and the bus was straining to get up the hills. I wish we would have stopped so I could have taken some photos, but sadly we didnt' so you'll just have to take my word for it that it was beautiful. Steep, craggy, limestone peaks, rainforesty plants, and the locals all built their wood houses on stilts, quite the idyllic environment. Laos is still a fairly quiet place, and Vientiane seems very relaxed and laid back. Looking forward to exploring it tomorrow.