 In 1939, at the outbreak of WWII, Austrian mountain-climber Harrer is captured and interred in an Indian P.O.W. camp. Harrer escapes from the prison with several other men and, at great peril, crosses the jungles of India and the mountains of the Himalayas. Against the wishes of Tibet s religious leader, the Dalai Lama, Harrer and his companions enter the forbidden country of Tibet, and, eventually, the Holy City of Lhasa, where they are again held as prisoners.