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

Mani stones, Nam-tso

We crash a wedding near Danba

Snowclouds, en route to Serqu

Noodle action, Qumarleg

Night, Tuotuohe

A Gyarong Castle, Wori

Behind the Potala Palace, Lhasa

Amdo nomad style, Yushu

Potala Palace and reflection, Lhasa

Girl, Jana Mani, Yushu

The roof of Ramoche Temple, Lhasa

Day 1: Our first 4,000 metre mountain pass

Sera Monastery, Lhasa

A young tulku (‘living buddha’), Serxu

Frosty morning in Tagong, Mt Yala in the background

A mile of prayer stones, Bagemani, Serxu

Waiting, TIbet

Sunset, Nagchu, Tibet

Wolf, Serqu

Sunset over the Trola Mountains, outside Ganzi

A yak! Luhuo

Frozen reservoir at dusk, Serqu

Moonrise over the Four SIsters’ Mountains, Sichuan

Boy band material, Yushu

The frosty road to Nam-tso

Yak butter lamps, Yushu

Mani stones for sale, Yushu

Autumn in progress, between Danba and Bamei

Earthquake damage, Yushu

Flower seller, Jana Mani, Yushu

Snack time, Serxu

Upper reaches of the Yangtze, outside Qumarleg

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

Lake Yilhun La-tso, Manigango

Road yaks, Serqu