Compassionate and gentle eyes on which perched warm, scattered dust. Reluctantly, I uttered ‘Asalamun Alaykum (peace be upon you), which instantly connected me with two older Uyghur men outside Id Kah mosque in Kashgar.

Gazing out from the Kadıköy Sahil, the abundance of glistening water dances like a scattering of misri rocks, trickling beneath a city camouflaged in multiple life modes.

I stroll down the promenade in Portobello (Edinburgh) snuggled in my Chitrali woollen Chogha (overcoat), sipping on a strong flat white and listening to a track by Arooj Aftab.