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

Day 1: Our first 4,000 metre mountain pass

Snowclouds, en route to Serqu

Flower seller, Jana Mani, Yushu

Sera Monastery, Lhasa

Snack time, Serxu

Lake Yilhun La-tso, Manigango

Frozen reservoir at dusk, Serqu

Potala Palace and reflection, Lhasa

Behind the Potala Palace, Lhasa

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

Sunset over the Trola Mountains, outside Ganzi

The roof of Ramoche Temple, Lhasa

We crash a wedding near Danba

Mani stones, Nam-tso

Moonrise over the Four SIsters’ Mountains, Sichuan

A yak! Luhuo

Waiting, TIbet

Autumn in progress, between Danba and Bamei

The frosty road to Nam-tso

A young tulku (‘living buddha’), Serxu

Amdo nomad style, Yushu

Mani stones for sale, Yushu

Frosty morning in Tagong, Mt Yala in the background

Wolf, Serqu

Girl, Jana Mani, Yushu

Road yaks, Serqu

A Gyarong Castle, Wori

Noodle action, Qumarleg

Earthquake damage, Yushu

Boy band material, Yushu

Upper reaches of the Yangtze, outside Qumarleg

Sunset, Nagchu, Tibet

Yak butter lamps, Yushu

A mile of prayer stones, Bagemani, Serxu

Night, Tuotuohe