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

The roof of Ramoche Temple, Lhasa

Upper reaches of the Yangtze, outside Qumarleg

The frosty road to Nam-tso

A young tulku (‘living buddha’), Serxu

Wolf, Serqu

Boy band material, Yushu

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

Flower seller, Jana Mani, Yushu

Mani stones for sale, Yushu

A yak! Luhuo

Sunset, Nagchu, Tibet

Sunset over the Trola Mountains, outside Ganzi

Noodle action, Qumarleg

Autumn in progress, between Danba and Bamei

Behind the Potala Palace, Lhasa

A Gyarong Castle, Wori

Frozen reservoir at dusk, Serqu

Girl, Jana Mani, Yushu

Frosty morning in Tagong, Mt Yala in the background

Earthquake damage, Yushu

Road yaks, Serqu

Snowclouds, en route to Serqu

We crash a wedding near Danba

Yak butter lamps, Yushu

Waiting, TIbet

Mani stones, Nam-tso

Amdo nomad style, Yushu

Moonrise over the Four SIsters’ Mountains, Sichuan

Snack time, Serxu

Sera Monastery, Lhasa

Night, Tuotuohe

Day 1: Our first 4,000 metre mountain pass

Potala Palace and reflection, Lhasa

Lake Yilhun La-tso, Manigango

A mile of prayer stones, Bagemani, Serxu