"In this vivid memoir, Heinrich Harrer recounts his adventures as one of the first Europeans ever to enter Tibet. After escaping from a British internment camp in India during World War II, Harrer trekked across Asia, ending up in the Forbidden City of Lhasa, penniless, and without proper permission to be in the area. But tibetan hospitality and his own curious appearance worked in Harrer's favor, allowing him unprecedented acceptance among the tibetan...

Heinrich Harrer is an Austrian national and a Nazi sympathizer. He leaves Austria in 1939 to climb a mountain in the Himalayas. Through a series of circumstances (including POW camp), he and fellow climber Peter Aufschnaiter become the only two foreigners in the Tibetan holy city of Lhasa. There, Heinrich's life changes forever as he becomes a close confidant to the Dalai Lama.