12-year-old Ivo lives with his father in Vienna, a long way from the Yugoslavian village in which he was born. He finds the solitude of city life and the sustaines contempt of his new city neighbours unbearable, and runs away. Without either passport or money, Ivo makes his way back to Yugoslavia along one of the most rugged roads in Europe — the road to Istanbul. Ivo will stop at nothing to defend his native village.