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

Waiting, TIbet

Frosty morning in Tagong, Mt Yala in the background

Girl, Jana Mani, Yushu

A Gyarong Castle, Wori

We crash a wedding near Danba

Upper reaches of the Yangtze, outside Qumarleg

Sunset over the Trola Mountains, outside Ganzi

Amdo nomad style, Yushu

Potala Palace and reflection, Lhasa

Noodle action, Qumarleg

Frozen reservoir at dusk, Serqu

The frosty road to Nam-tso

Sunset, Nagchu, Tibet

Autumn in progress, between Danba and Bamei

Mani stones, Nam-tso

Earthquake damage, Yushu

Day 1: Our first 4,000 metre mountain pass

Lake Yilhun La-tso, Manigango

A yak! Luhuo

Moonrise over the Four SIsters’ Mountains, Sichuan

A mile of prayer stones, Bagemani, Serxu

Snowclouds, en route to Serqu

Flower seller, Jana Mani, Yushu

Snack time, Serxu

Wolf, Serqu

Sera Monastery, Lhasa

Road yaks, Serqu

Night, Tuotuohe

Boy band material, Yushu

Mani stones for sale, Yushu

The roof of Ramoche Temple, Lhasa

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

Yak butter lamps, Yushu

A young tulku (‘living buddha’), Serxu

Behind the Potala Palace, Lhasa