September 1854: The freighter Indus sets sail from Southampton, bound for Bombay. On board are three brothers from Bavaria: Hermann, Adolph and Robert Schlagintweit. The three geologists and experienced mountaineers begin an expedition that will ultimately lead to a life-and-death struggle.
Commissioned by the mighty East India Company, the brothers spend three years exploring the Himalayas – recommended by none other than Alexander von Humboldt. They collect samples, conduct ethnographic studies, cross glaciers, suffer from illness, and equal Humboldt’s altitude record. But the expedition ends in tragedy: Adolph loses his life. Robert and Hermann return to Europe with 40,000 samples and from then on fight with tenacity and energy for recognition of the Schlagintweit expedition.
