Walk into a market lane and you hear it first, a vendor calling a price, a hammer tapping metal, sandals passing stalls of handmade goods. Many things here are still made by the people who sell them, and every purchase comes with a small story. Beyond the stalls, rocky mountains, wide desert and a long coast each have their own crafts.

Days are hot and dry for much of the year, with milder winters, while the far south turns green in the summer monsoon. Keep walks for mornings and evenings. A Local Friend turns a list of places into a day that makes sense.