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

Amdo nomad style, Yushu

A yak! Luhuo

Road yaks, Serqu

Waiting, TIbet

Moonrise over the Four SIsters’ Mountains, Sichuan

Day 1: Our first 4,000 metre mountain pass

A Gyarong Castle, Wori

Night, Tuotuohe

Noodle action, Qumarleg

The roof of Ramoche Temple, Lhasa

A young tulku (‘living buddha’), Serxu

Earthquake damage, Yushu

Autumn in progress, between Danba and Bamei

Lake Yilhun La-tso, Manigango

Sunset over the Trola Mountains, outside Ganzi

Potala Palace and reflection, Lhasa

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

Frozen reservoir at dusk, Serqu

The frosty road to Nam-tso

Sunset, Nagchu, Tibet

Flower seller, Jana Mani, Yushu

Wolf, Serqu

Sera Monastery, Lhasa

Mani stones, Nam-tso

Behind the Potala Palace, Lhasa

Snack time, Serxu

Snowclouds, en route to Serqu

Upper reaches of the Yangtze, outside Qumarleg

Boy band material, Yushu

Yak butter lamps, Yushu

Mani stones for sale, Yushu

We crash a wedding near Danba

Frosty morning in Tagong, Mt Yala in the background

Girl, Jana Mani, Yushu

A mile of prayer stones, Bagemani, Serxu