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

Snowclouds, en route to Serqu

Yak butter lamps, Yushu

Girl, Jana Mani, Yushu

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

Earthquake damage, Yushu

Snack time, Serxu

Wolf, Serqu

Potala Palace and reflection, Lhasa

Lake Yilhun La-tso, Manigango

A mile of prayer stones, Bagemani, Serxu

Moonrise over the Four SIsters’ Mountains, Sichuan

A young tulku (‘living buddha’), Serxu

A Gyarong Castle, Wori

Frosty morning in Tagong, Mt Yala in the background

Boy band material, Yushu

Autumn in progress, between Danba and Bamei

Noodle action, Qumarleg

Upper reaches of the Yangtze, outside Qumarleg

Waiting, TIbet

Amdo nomad style, Yushu

Mani stones, Nam-tso

A yak! Luhuo

Night, Tuotuohe

The frosty road to Nam-tso

Sunset, Nagchu, Tibet

Day 1: Our first 4,000 metre mountain pass

Road yaks, Serqu

Flower seller, Jana Mani, Yushu

Behind the Potala Palace, Lhasa

Sunset over the Trola Mountains, outside Ganzi

Frozen reservoir at dusk, Serqu

We crash a wedding near Danba

The roof of Ramoche Temple, Lhasa

Sera Monastery, Lhasa

Mani stones for sale, Yushu