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

Behind the Potala Palace, Lhasa

Autumn in progress, between Danba and Bamei

Sunset over the Trola Mountains, outside Ganzi

Moonrise over the Four SIsters’ Mountains, Sichuan

Flower seller, Jana Mani, Yushu

Noodle action, Qumarleg

Waiting, TIbet

Mani stones for sale, Yushu

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

A yak! Luhuo

Mani stones, Nam-tso

Sunset, Nagchu, Tibet

Sera Monastery, Lhasa

Snowclouds, en route to Serqu

The frosty road to Nam-tso

Frosty morning in Tagong, Mt Yala in the background

Frozen reservoir at dusk, Serqu

Boy band material, Yushu

Girl, Jana Mani, Yushu

A mile of prayer stones, Bagemani, Serxu

Potala Palace and reflection, Lhasa

Yak butter lamps, Yushu

Earthquake damage, Yushu

Road yaks, Serqu

Amdo nomad style, Yushu

Night, Tuotuohe

The roof of Ramoche Temple, Lhasa

Upper reaches of the Yangtze, outside Qumarleg

Lake Yilhun La-tso, Manigango

Snack time, Serxu

A Gyarong Castle, Wori

A young tulku (‘living buddha’), Serxu

We crash a wedding near Danba

Wolf, Serqu