Hi, I am planning a trip to Sipsongpanna (西双版纳 in Chinese) and have received some quotes for travel by car from Laos to Jinghong and back. Lao registered vehicles can only travel as far north as Jinghong without special permission, so if someone could tell me how much I could expect to pay per day, for a car with driver from the Chinese-Lao border town of Mohanzhen up to Jinghong, and possibly as far north as Simao, I'd be very appreciative. I need to visit a number of sites along the way (I'm going on business) therefore a bus would be very inconvenient and tiring...and not an option for me. I am looking to stay in that region for about 3 days and 2 nights.

In Mohan there are always minibusses at the bus station, which is about half a mile from the border on the eastern side of the main street. They usually do the run to Mengla, but I am pretty sure that they would do hire jobs as well. I have not seen any other vehicles for hire in town, but if you took the minibus to Mengla you would have more options.

I have always found it a bit difficult to negotiate with drivers unless you can really tell them where you want to go, because only if they can estimate the distance they can give you a price.

However, my rule of thumb is that in a small minibus or a car the price for hire works out as RMB 3 per kilometer. Any waiting time should not really cost extra as drivers tend to spend all day waiting anyway, but you need to tell the driver, otherwise they get impatient.

We have hired taxis for 500rmb per day for 4 pax, but that was 4 years ago and gas has gone up.

We told the driver the furthest destination, and said we expected to visit a few places on the way.
If you have an itinerary, get it translated into Mandarin. You then have something to negotiate with.

Put do go to the railway station as you will have a better choice of cab drivers and are less likely to bet gouged.

Thanks for that info. Looks like my original choice of driving a Lao car across the border will be cheaper and more convenient.