Mornings begin at the market, where stalls stack fruit in bright pyramids, cooks ladle noodles into bowls, and weavers and carvers sell what their own hands finished. Beyond the town edge the land flattens into green fields, wide brown rivers and villages where craft is part of the week.
The climate is tropical, with a rainy season from May to October and a cooler, drier stretch from November to March. A Local Friend walks beside you instead of ahead, pointing out which stall makes its own sugar and why a long lunch matters.