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

Earthquake damage, Yushu

A Gyarong Castle, Wori

Mani stones for sale, Yushu

Yak butter lamps, Yushu

A mile of prayer stones, Bagemani, Serxu

Girl, Jana Mani, Yushu

Flower seller, Jana Mani, Yushu

Frozen reservoir at dusk, Serqu

Wolf, Serqu

A yak! Luhuo

We crash a wedding near Danba

Frosty morning in Tagong, Mt Yala in the background

Behind the Potala Palace, Lhasa

Road yaks, Serqu

Autumn in progress, between Danba and Bamei

Snack time, Serxu

Sunset over the Trola Mountains, outside Ganzi

Snowclouds, en route to Serqu

Upper reaches of the Yangtze, outside Qumarleg

Lake Yilhun La-tso, Manigango

Day 1: Our first 4,000 metre mountain pass

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

Potala Palace and reflection, Lhasa

Waiting, TIbet

Mani stones, Nam-tso

The roof of Ramoche Temple, Lhasa

Sera Monastery, Lhasa

Amdo nomad style, Yushu

Sunset, Nagchu, Tibet

Noodle action, Qumarleg

Boy band material, Yushu

Night, Tuotuohe

Moonrise over the Four SIsters’ Mountains, Sichuan

The frosty road to Nam-tso

A young tulku (‘living buddha’), Serxu