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

Sunset over the Trola Mountains, outside Ganzi

Waiting, TIbet

Amdo nomad style, Yushu

Lake Yilhun La-tso, Manigango

Earthquake damage, Yushu

Potala Palace and reflection, Lhasa

Behind the Potala Palace, Lhasa

Noodle action, Qumarleg

A Gyarong Castle, Wori

Day 1: Our first 4,000 metre mountain pass

A mile of prayer stones, Bagemani, Serxu

Upper reaches of the Yangtze, outside Qumarleg

Wolf, Serqu

Frozen reservoir at dusk, Serqu

Sunset, Nagchu, Tibet

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

Girl, Jana Mani, Yushu

Flower seller, Jana Mani, Yushu

The frosty road to Nam-tso

Road yaks, Serqu

A yak! Luhuo

The roof of Ramoche Temple, Lhasa

Mani stones for sale, Yushu

Sera Monastery, Lhasa

Snowclouds, en route to Serqu

Frosty morning in Tagong, Mt Yala in the background

Snack time, Serxu

We crash a wedding near Danba

Moonrise over the Four SIsters’ Mountains, Sichuan

Night, Tuotuohe

Mani stones, Nam-tso

Yak butter lamps, Yushu

A young tulku (‘living buddha’), Serxu

Autumn in progress, between Danba and Bamei

Boy band material, Yushu