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

Mani stones, Nam-tso

Upper reaches of the Yangtze, outside Qumarleg

A young tulku (‘living buddha’), Serxu

Waiting, TIbet

Lake Yilhun La-tso, Manigango

A yak! Luhuo

Boy band material, Yushu

Moonrise over the Four SIsters’ Mountains, Sichuan

We crash a wedding near Danba

Frosty morning in Tagong, Mt Yala in the background

Flower seller, Jana Mani, Yushu

Snowclouds, en route to Serqu

Wolf, Serqu

Girl, Jana Mani, Yushu

Autumn in progress, between Danba and Bamei

Amdo nomad style, Yushu

Sera Monastery, Lhasa

Snack time, Serxu

Mani stones for sale, Yushu

A mile of prayer stones, Bagemani, Serxu

A Gyarong Castle, Wori

Night, Tuotuohe

Earthquake damage, Yushu

Potala Palace and reflection, Lhasa

The frosty road to Nam-tso

The roof of Ramoche Temple, Lhasa

Behind the Potala Palace, Lhasa

Day 1: Our first 4,000 metre mountain pass

Frozen reservoir at dusk, Serqu

Sunset over the Trola Mountains, outside Ganzi

Yak butter lamps, Yushu

Road yaks, Serqu

Sunset, Nagchu, Tibet

Noodle action, Qumarleg

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