Couples Tie Knot On Volcano

Some 20 couples have got married on top of a 5842 metre volcano in Peru according to this story in the New York Times.

The volcano looms above the city of Arequipa in southern Peru, the name on which is apparently based on the Quechua for 'okay, let's stop here', and is a popular but tough trek with lack of water on the route being a major consideration.

It reportedly took the couples 12 hours to reach the top of the mountain where they donned dresses and tuxedos for the ceremony.

An old bore writes: seldom has the fine borderline between the tradional Inca religion and Christianity been so clearly illustrated. For the Incas, mountains were sacred places where they were literally closer to God and despite the Christianisation of the continent by the Spanish, the old ways still linger on, often integrated with the new religion, yet the atavisitc heart of South America is never far beneath the circus. Tke the scene of the Last Supper in Cuzco Cathedral where Christ and the disciples are depicted dining on guinea pig ('cuy') a local delicacy and (that's enough of that. Ed.)