Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand

We are almost at the end of our land trip to Chiang Mai and we have had an excellent time.
Jennifer has been with us  since her arrival on January 18 and we spent the first week sailing in the Phuket area. We had intended to go to the Phrang Na area around James Bond Island but we had very strong winds from the north which  made the anchorages uncomfortable so we went south to Nai Harn bay and spent some pleasant days at anchor and ashore on the beach. We went back into Yachthaven marina after that and ordered an extension to our Bimini  and some new hatch covers and put the boat to bed for our trip up here.
It was an easy two hour flight to Chiang Mai, direct from Phuket and a very short cab ride to the historic, old city of Chaing Mai an original capital of Thailand, thus avoiding Bankok where there is some unrest at the moment.
We spent a day looking at the tiny alleyways filled with restaurants and shops and of course, visiting some of the 200 Buddhist temples in the city.
We took a Thai cooking course which was very informative and I am sue that my favorite Tom Yam soup can now be reproduced in an authentic fashion.
On the following day we went to sample some Thai massage at the Chiang Mai Women's Prison.
There are a thousand massage emporia  here and the Lonely Planet Guide book suggested this particular facility. The place was surprisingly pleasant and very clean. The ladies who do the massaging are all inmates who are being rehabilitated and are apparently not mass murderers.
My one was about 4 feet 10 tall, she was missing some teeth but was extremely strong and for the next hour proceeded to crack every joint in my body and inflict pain with knees and elbows.
I'm not sure if I'll be back any time soon but the Admiral and Jennifer seemed to enjoy it.
Next day was the elephant tour which was at a facility about an hour north of the city. We were able to get up close and personal to these amazing creatures and spent time hand feeding them and learning how to ride them. In the afternoon, we went on a long, bareback elephant ride around the camp and ended up at a lake where the elephants were given a bath. Some excellent photos will be posted once we get back to Phuket.
We took a long car ride to see the countryside of Northern Thailand on the way up to Chiang Rai another former regional capital city. The climate was very cool and the old city charming. We visited the amazing white temple and then on the Golden Triangle of Thailand, Burma and Laos where most of the opium trade was centered in the 1980's.
February 2 nd was Election Day in Thailand and we had a quiet day by the pool and planned our Japan trip for May.
Yesterday, we again had a guided tour of the area around Chiang Mai and visited the highest peak in Thailand and it's surrounding national park. Our guide had excellent English and he explained a great deal regarding life and politics in Thailand. We also saw a silk factory and some large jewelry stores so a retail experience was also provided.
The week has passed very quickly and our final activity here has been arranged by the Admiral. We are going to spend the next 24 hours in a Buddhist monastery and see what life is like for the thousands of monks who live in Thailand.  A full report and photos will follow.