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

Night, Tuotuohe

Moonrise over the Four SIsters’ Mountains, Sichuan

Sunset over the Trola Mountains, outside Ganzi

Boy band material, Yushu

A mile of prayer stones, Bagemani, Serxu

Mani stones for sale, Yushu

A yak! Luhuo

Autumn in progress, between Danba and Bamei

Frozen reservoir at dusk, Serqu

Waiting, TIbet

Upper reaches of the Yangtze, outside Qumarleg

Amdo nomad style, Yushu

Road yaks, Serqu

We crash a wedding near Danba

A young tulku (‘living buddha’), Serxu

Sera Monastery, Lhasa

Sunset, Nagchu, Tibet

Snack time, Serxu

A Gyarong Castle, Wori

Potala Palace and reflection, Lhasa

Wolf, Serqu

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

The roof of Ramoche Temple, Lhasa

Behind the Potala Palace, Lhasa

The frosty road to Nam-tso

Earthquake damage, Yushu

Snowclouds, en route to Serqu

Lake Yilhun La-tso, Manigango

Yak butter lamps, Yushu

Mani stones, Nam-tso

Frosty morning in Tagong, Mt Yala in the background

Girl, Jana Mani, Yushu

Flower seller, Jana Mani, Yushu

Noodle action, Qumarleg

Day 1: Our first 4,000 metre mountain pass