Scenes from Cochabamba

Here are a few photos from a long work-vacation weekend spent in Cochabamba, Bolivia's fourth-largest city. We spent much of the time swimming through the crowds of a few busy weekend markets -- that's where the chicken lady was. We also visited an important shrine to the Virgen of Urkupina a bit outside of town, where hundreds of pilgrims lined up to leave flowers at the virgin's feet. Outside the shrine a line of dozens of drivers waited hours for the local priest to bless their cars. Part of the ritual involved splashing clear liquor on the outside and inside of buffed autos, each decorated with pastel ribbons. As always, click on photos to enlarge.