We made it! Despite the worryingly high chance of getting snowed in en route, we got all the way from Chengdu to Lhasa – 3,000 kilometres – with only two tyre changes, one mild case of altitude sickness and one lost-and-later-found passport. I leave Lhasa today, heading back to the oxygen-rich fug of Chengdu to defrost (with the help of some mapo tofu), and thence to Hong Kong on Tuesday.

I’m due at the airport shortly, so a full report will need to wait for a day or two, but for now, here is a photographic taster of the last fortnight’s travels…

Enjoy!

xx

A Gyarong Castle, Wori

The roof of Ramoche Temple, Lhasa

Mani stones, Nam-tso

Moonrise over the Four SIsters’ Mountains, Sichuan

Yak butter lamps, Yushu

Boy band material, Yushu

Sunset over the Trola Mountains, outside Ganzi

Amdo nomad style, Yushu

Noodle action, Qumarleg

Behind the Potala Palace, Lhasa

Girl, Jana Mani, Yushu

A mile of prayer stones, Bagemani, Serxu

Frozen reservoir at dusk, Serqu

Autumn in progress, between Danba and Bamei

Night, Tuotuohe

A traffic jam inside a long tunnel damaged in the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake

A young tulku (‘living buddha’), Serxu

Snack time, Serxu

Flower seller, Jana Mani, Yushu

Wolf, Serqu

Road yaks, Serqu

Snowclouds, en route to Serqu

A yak! Luhuo

Sera Monastery, Lhasa

Frosty morning in Tagong, Mt Yala in the background

Sunset, Nagchu, Tibet

Day 1: Our first 4,000 metre mountain pass

Lake Yilhun La-tso, Manigango

Waiting, TIbet

Mani stones for sale, Yushu

We crash a wedding near Danba

Earthquake damage, Yushu

The frosty road to Nam-tso

Upper reaches of the Yangtze, outside Qumarleg

Potala Palace and reflection, Lhasa