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

Frozen reservoir at dusk, Serqu

Sunset, Nagchu, Tibet

Amdo nomad style, Yushu

A mile of prayer stones, Bagemani, Serxu

Snowclouds, en route to Serqu

Boy band material, Yushu

The roof of Ramoche Temple, Lhasa

Autumn in progress, between Danba and Bamei

Moonrise over the Four SIsters’ Mountains, Sichuan

Yak butter lamps, Yushu

Waiting, TIbet

Sunset over the Trola Mountains, outside Ganzi

Sera Monastery, Lhasa

Lake Yilhun La-tso, Manigango

Snack time, Serxu

A yak! Luhuo

Potala Palace and reflection, Lhasa

Girl, Jana Mani, Yushu

The frosty road to Nam-tso

Earthquake damage, Yushu

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

Behind the Potala Palace, Lhasa

Mani stones, Nam-tso

Noodle action, Qumarleg

We crash a wedding near Danba

A Gyarong Castle, Wori

A young tulku (‘living buddha’), Serxu

Flower seller, Jana Mani, Yushu

Wolf, Serqu

Day 1: Our first 4,000 metre mountain pass

Road yaks, Serqu

Mani stones for sale, Yushu

Night, Tuotuohe

Upper reaches of the Yangtze, outside Qumarleg

Frosty morning in Tagong, Mt Yala in the background