Let us say right up front, we love Chiang Mai, the people are so friendly and helpful, the food is wonderful and the cost of living is crazy low. But there is also another side to most of this town, it needs work. The sidewalks are cracked, most of the buildings are crying out for a paint job and the electrical and telecommunications above ground cabling is enough to send an old phone company guy like George into hiding.
In the midst of all this deferred maintenance there is an oasis called the Wualai Sabaidee Boutique Hotel which is located very close to the Saturday walking street. At just 1,200 BHT per night (about USD $38) we were treated like family and shown to a large beautiful room that would have made any luxury chain in America proud.
The check list of things we loved about this hotel included:
• Fast, Free WiFi
• Plenty of hot water and excellent pressure in a large tiled shower
• Safe, refrigerator and cable TV in room
• Bottled water at no charge
• High thread count luxury sheets on excellent bedding with comfy pillows
• Well kept gardens with plenty of shady seating areas
• A laundry service right across the street – 1 weeks worth of laundry washed, dried and folded for BHT 75 (about USD $2.40)
The hotel is managed by two delightful gentlemen one named Thep and the other his cousin Poo (along with a myriad of other cousins). Together they great guest, help with baggage and keep the hotel polished and shining. We were really surprised to hear that the place has been open for 5 years, because everyting looks so brand new.
“Where will you go today?” cousin Poo asked us each day of our one week stay, and each day Poo or Thep would suggest a festival a market or some other interesting activity. We followed their advice and had a wonderful time.
We never got a chance to take the bicycles offered to use at no charge out, but every morning we enjoyed the fresh juice, fresh ground coffee fruit and toast offered just off the lobby while worked away chronicling our adventures for the travel blog. 
To be sure if we ever get back to Chiang Mai the Wualai Sabaidee Boutique Hotel will be the our home away from home.
As with the elephants, we were picked up at our 
After a tour of the garden we were led into the main school where we were each assigned our own cooking station compete with utensils, a burner, chopping block and several different types of pans and woks.
As each dish was completed it went under our bench while we worked on the next. During our first snack break we got to enjoy our soup. At one point in the prep, we were shown how to inject a bit of flair with a flaming presentation of the stir fry.
I am sure that it will not surprise anyone who knows us to hear that that ride back to your hotel was followed by a nice long nap…
Nothing can prepare you for the experience of spending time with these gentle giants, but we will endeavor to provide some detail about the experience. As a tourist you must be aware that there are two types of elephant experiences available, one involves riding the elephants on a jungle trek of sorts and the other is visiting a sanctuary to interact with them in a more caring way. We will not lecture on either path, but suffice it to say we chose to visit a sanctuary.
Once outfitted the group of about 15 of us looked like rodeo clowns ready to hit the circuit. Our guide then spent some time explaining to us that the elephants we were going to be interacting with were domesticated and were used to being around humans. They also advised that they were very curious and nimble with their trunks, so we needed to hang on to our phones lest the elephants grabbed them from us to take a selfie. Other simple rules: don’t run away from the elephants because they may see you running and chase you. Stay out from under their feet, and try and stay in their field of vision so they can be aware of you and where you are.
After our “getting to know you” period in the fields, we retired to a small pagoda for a lesson on elephant eating habits and differences between wild and domesticated diets. We learned that domesticated elephants do not get the robust diet that wild elephants do and as such require supplements. We then where taught how to create large meatball sized lumps of supplements that included bananas, tamarind, vitamins and more. With our tray full of “meatballs” we headed out again to feed the elephants, but unlike before when they took the snacks from us with their trunk, we placed the vitamin balls directly into their mouths. You have never lived until you have stuck your hand into an elephants mouth and placed a meatball near the back of her tongue. A shout of “Bom-Bom” would cause the elephant to open wide to accept the sticky treats….
With their bellies full it was time for a bath so we all headed down to the lagoon where the elephants plopped down and rolled over and gleefully lounged as we poured buckets full of water over them and scrubbed their hides with soft bristle brushes. Occasionally one of them would trumpet and shoot a spray of water through their trunks giving everyone in the area a nice cool shower.
