Jamal and Enayat are cousins. Jamal, the younger of the two, is an orphan; he lives in a refugee camp and spends his days working at a brickworks. Enayat sells electrical goods at his father's market stall. Enayat's family is sending him to England to have a shot at a better quality of life. Thanks to his powers of persuasion and his knowledge of English, Jamal is allowed to accompany his cousin on his journey to Great Britain. After an initial attempt fails, they eventually manage to cross the border from Pakistan into Iran, hidden on buses and lorries. From Teheran they travel through Kurd country on foot and over the mountains into Turkey. Theirs is an old smugglers' route--once part of the "Silk Road," it is now used to smuggle car parts, oil, opium and tobacco to the West. The two cousins arrive in Istanbul, where a whole new world opens up before them.