The search for 'Happiness' began at 4am this morning. After months of planning (and a very busy last couple of weeks!!) here we are in transit once again. An early flight to Vancouver. Five hours hanging around gate D55. Then on a flight to Guangzhou before boarding yet another flight to Kathmandu where we plan to spend a couple of nights.

Thirteen hours after leaving Vancouver we sit in a dingy basement section of the Guangzhou Airport. A trip of 6,649 miles with more to go.  
To anyone wanting to fly Southern China economy try to get the last seat (ours were 53 A & C). There is a galley behind you, no washrooms, and you can stand up & stretch and the earbuds are long enough to watch a movie while stretching.
 Lined up for a visa, tired and ready for bed, we weren't prepared for the chaos that can only a be described as too many men trying to figure out how to get the most money out of you all while trying to confuse you as they chat among each other at Customs. Do you have any idea how nice it is to see your name on a hotel sign at the far end of a long day's journey?? And then the shower at the hotel later...Oh that felt good!
Winding down dusty roads through road blocks and general horn honking confusion we arrived at the hotel around midnight. The first thing Shane said was "I'm sure it will look better in the morning?" The hotel, in fact, was clean and comfortable....it's the location he was referring to.
After a a good sleep we wandered downstairs for a delicious breakfast at what we thought was 9:30.... It was only 6:30... Man our internal clocks are burnt up!
Then came a morning of exploration that could be anywhere in India or Vietnam, Myanmar etc. The smells, the rickshaws, the touts and the plastic. It always takes me a while to get in to the groove of a trip. By lunchtime we figured out that the map wasn't as out of whack as we thought. That there are no, and never will be, street names. That not all the 'artists' on the streets just want to practice their English skills. That chaos reigns supreme right up there with pollution.... And that I kind of like the place.  
 By they end of the day I wasn't so sure about liking the place. The temperature hit 33C. When you add that to the pollution and noise you begin to get the picture. We walked and walked trying to find a park where we could sit in the shade and people watch. Oddly the park (which also oddly is called Ratnapark) was closed. Securely gated and locked as throngs of people, many of them wearing protective face masks, struggle to their destinations on a narrow dusty sidewalk outside the peaceful serenity of the still green park.  
From that chaos we found our way to Kathmandu Durbar Square (as opposed to the larger more touted Durbar square farther south). The wood carvings on each of these temples were amazingly intricate. Away from cars and (most) motorbikes it was a uniquely peaceful place.  
So we know our way around the Thamel area of the city and we are mostly over the jet lag. Tomorrow our journey to Bhutan begins. When we return here in two weeks we will have more time and more energy to do it right.
Right now it feels like we have survived the first two days.... not an easy thing to do!