Cassidy Parker
Cassidy Parker
  • Home
  • About
  • Portfolio
  • Blog
  • Contact
The imaginations of Valparaiso
Infinity in the palm of your hand
Chile
Feeling the heat
January 21, 2013 by Cassidy Parker in Chile

Chile’s intercity public transport system is impressive. Buses leave precisely – precisely – on time; those that don’t are met with flailing arms and frustrated wrist-tapping by the next drivers in the queue. The seats recline like dentists’ chairs and the country’s seatbelt laws are both strictly enforced and strictly adhered to. A small screen inside the bus indicates the driver’s speed in real time to all passengers, and the moment 100km/h is exceeded, a small alarm sounds and the driver is forced to slow down. I have not yet missed a scheduled arrival time. So yes, impressive.

With that, it was almost a relief to find myself on a local bus three days ago. A bus to which the seatbelt laws don’t apply because no seatbelts exist. A bus for which closing the front door is optional, and depends on whether the fresh air-to-dust ratio lies in the former’s favour. A bus that makes up stops as it goes along, based on the needs of the farmers within its rattling frame. A bus that holds only a handful of travellers, all of them Chilean – oh, and one very white gringa.

Cassidy Parker - Feeling the heat 1

I spent the weekend trying to explore Chile’s Elqui Valley, the heart of the country’s pisco production (a type of grape brandy, over which Chile has long disputed claim against Peru). Trying, but mostly failing. To say that the area is hot is like suggesting that Lance Armstrong might be guilty of doping. Above, the sun hovers like an enormous element, below which the grapes thrive in their green luminosity, the mountains scorch and sizzle and, within this oven, my body learns the true meaning of sweat.

Cassidy Parker - Feeling the heat 2Pisco plantations and mountains in the distance, parched of all colour in the midday heat

Cassidy Parker - Feeling the heat 3

Cassidy Parker - Feeling the heat 4

Cassidy Parker - Feeling the heat 5You know it’s hot when the dorky hat comes out

My days in the small village of Pisco Elqui see my arms coated in a glimmering sheen. Sweat pools in the notch at my throat and under my breasts, and a steady stream follows the path from the top of my head down my spine and into the crevice it finds below my coccyx. I attempt and abort many a hike, my heartbeat and the heat humming in my ears, often resigning myself to naps in the shade where flies settle on my damp flesh, irritate, and are lazily swotted away. By night, mosquitoes launch carefully orchestrated attacks on my cheeks, arms and knees, their whining dive bombings waking me repeatedly. Hot and restless, I toss and turn.

My days are solitary, though far from lonely. I meet no other English-speaking travellers and though my Spanish is improving – I practise it in the bus by playing sudoku: uno dos tres cuatro cinco seis seite ocho nueve (just kidding) – I am still far from conversational. I try my best but generally keep to myself and it occurs to me that travelling in a country where you don’t speak the language reveals a different side of your personality. I am shyer here, a little more self-conscious, and frustrated at times that my experiences and interactions are so limited by the words and phrases I am able to say. Languages don’t come easy to me, I’ve realised, but I am trying.

Cassidy Parker - Feeling the heat 6There are almost more roads that lead in and out of Pisco Elqui than there are in the village itself

Cassidy Parker - Feeling the heat 7

Cassidy Parker - Feeling the heat 8

Cassidy Parker - Feeling the heat 9
The region has some truly amazing fruit, both fresh and dried. The sundried figs below, though they may not look it, were the best I’ve ever had

Cassidy Parker - Feeling the heat 10

Back in La Serena now, with the rings of salt washed from my clothing and the pink glean my legs acquired already fading, I begin to plot my route north. I think I will be in Bolivia within a week, but there is a desert to visit on my way, the driest desert in the world, or so they say, the Atacama. Tonight, a fresh seafood dinner with new friends, and finding comfort in a little English.

Cassidy Parker - Feeling the heat 11Pisco Elqui by night

1 Comments
0 Like!
Share
Cassidy Parker

There is 1 comment on this post
  1. Joy Parker
    January 22, 2013, 8:32 am
    Leave reply

    I know that hat! 🙂

Leave a reply

Click here to cancel reply.

Search

Recent Posts

  • Stars, salt and infinity: Namibia, part two May 12, 2023
  • Heat, canyons and quiver trees: Namibia, part one June 21, 2022
  • Home with a capital H March 3, 2022

Recent Comments

  • Lenora on Stars, salt and infinity: Namibia, part two
  • Joy Parker on Stars, salt and infinity: Namibia, part two
  • Stars, salt and infinity: Namibia, part two - Cassidy Parker on Heat, canyons and quiver trees: Namibia, part one

cassontwofeet

During the hardest days of lockdown, Matt and I st During the hardest days of lockdown, Matt and I started to really imagine what a life together would look like. He travelled a lot for work. Maybe, we thought, with my work being so nomadic, I could travel with him sometimes.

Over the last two years since I’ve been in London, we’ve increasingly put this idea to the test, and have been fortunate to have quite a few work-related adventures.

But this week, we really got it right. 

He landed a job in Corfu for the whole of May, and it worked out perfectly for me to join him for almost half of it. We’ve both been working, but in the evenings and on our days off, we’ve been exploring hidden beaches and bays, swimming in turquoise waters, soaking up the scenery, and eating endless dolmades and feta.

I wish I could show these pictures to that pair in lockdown. Just you wait, I’d say.
It's taken a while to put this together – life g It's taken a while to put this together – life got in the way for a bit – but I've written some more about our trip to Namibia last year. There’s a link in my bio. This one’s all about Etosha.
.
.
#namibia #etoshanationalpark #etoshapan #flatflatflat #starssaltandinfinity
Of all the local bands I loved as a student, Undon Of all the local bands I loved as a student, Undone was by far my favourite. I was friends with the band, I loved their music, and I had a monster crush on @madgush.

About 16 years since I last saw them live, they came together as their later, London iteration, A Tower of Sheep, for a reunion at @kclou_25’s wedding. 
 
It. Was. Sublime.

The band knocked it out the park. The crowd went wild. It whipped all of us straight from the present and dropped us back at the Old Gaol or Taphuis circa 2006.

These photographs and videos are terrible. They’re dark and grainy and I chopped off everyone’s feet. But I – along with everyone else – was having the time of my life!

Best of all: I got to kiss my student crush at the end of it ❤️
.
.
#undone #atowerofsheep #kc&ol #nostalgia #backintheday #gtown #rhodes #livemusicsoc
There’s very little at the most northernly tip o There’s very little at the most northernly tip of Ireland. The path runs out and the land disintegrates into the sea. But there’s a soft spot to sit on and that’s all you really need.
A few spectacular days exploring Northern Ireland A few spectacular days exploring Northern Ireland and County Donegal. Rugged, weather-beaten, beautiful and surprisingly sunny!
Dear Haarlem and Amsterdam, thank you for your boa Dear Haarlem and Amsterdam, thank you for your boat trips and tulips, your crooked houses and canals, and especially your wonderful friendships and belly-aching laughter. I’m not even a little bit sorry we ate all your stroopwafels and cheese. What a weekend ✨
I love being with @madgush when he works. I love t I love being with @madgush when he works. I love the places I get to experience and the music I get to hear. But I especially love the people I get to meet. 

@biig_piig just wrapped her sold-out headline tour across Europe and the finale in Dublin was unforgettable. By the end of the show, the crowd was whipped to a frenzy. 

Standing there, watching what that team of beautiful humans create, and being fortunate enough to call them my friends, argh, my heart could have burst.

Last pic by the enormously talented @melycrisp.
Change, it comes eventually 🌸 Change, it comes eventually 🌸
A few final snaps from @wonderfruitfestival. What A few final snaps from @wonderfruitfestival. What a dream to experience this festival, and especially the @polygon.live stage, in person.

I’m especially grateful for the new friendships I formed and the old friends who came across the world to join us. What a unifying force adventure and music can be!

Thank you so much Polygon, you’ve forever altered live music for me. 🚀
Load More... Follow on Instagram

© All words and photographs belong to me, Cassidy Parker. Website engineered by Web Dexterity.

Cassidy Parker