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

Sunset, Nagchu, Tibet

A young tulku (‘living buddha’), Serxu

Noodle action, Qumarleg

A mile of prayer stones, Bagemani, Serxu

Sunset over the Trola Mountains, outside Ganzi

Amdo nomad style, Yushu

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

Road yaks, Serqu

Frosty morning in Tagong, Mt Yala in the background

Mani stones for sale, Yushu

Upper reaches of the Yangtze, outside Qumarleg

Flower seller, Jana Mani, Yushu

The roof of Ramoche Temple, Lhasa

A Gyarong Castle, Wori

Snack time, Serxu

Boy band material, Yushu

Autumn in progress, between Danba and Bamei

Snowclouds, en route to Serqu

Wolf, Serqu

Lake Yilhun La-tso, Manigango

Sera Monastery, Lhasa

Waiting, TIbet

Day 1: Our first 4,000 metre mountain pass

Moonrise over the Four SIsters’ Mountains, Sichuan

We crash a wedding near Danba

Yak butter lamps, Yushu

A yak! Luhuo

Behind the Potala Palace, Lhasa

Frozen reservoir at dusk, Serqu

Mani stones, Nam-tso

Night, Tuotuohe

Earthquake damage, Yushu

Girl, Jana Mani, Yushu

The frosty road to Nam-tso

Potala Palace and reflection, Lhasa