An Announcement....

I know some of you thought this day would never come, but just after sunrise yesterday morning on the topmost lookout point of the World Heritage site of Luang Prabang, Laos, Victor and I got engaged.

Our journey there contained both surprising obstacles and beautiful scenery. Victor had prepared in advance to lead us to the top of Temple That Chom Sii on Mount Phousi for sunrise (and many of you know what a sacrifice this was for Victor to awake early of his own volition!), but our guesthouse attendant did not similarly prepare for the usual 5:30 am guesthouse opening. Instead, he stumbled out of his room around 6:10 to inform us he'd been drinking until 4am the previous night at the local bowling alley. In the meantime, Victor and I had spent the first 1/2 hour of the morning desperately trying to escape from our padlocked guesthouse with a dozen keys found behind the reception desk.

Upon leaving the guesthouse, we were confonted with no less than six street vendors attempting to sell us a plentiful amount of bananas. Though we wondered why they thought this was a worthwhile endeavor, we soon stumbled upon a long line of monks, at least 25 in sum, collecting their day's worth of food.

Though we had only bought a banana apiece for ourselves (not understanding that we had in fact paid for the whole bushel), we donated them to two of the monks who came down the line.

We walked by the river to the south (Luang Prabang is a peninsula that sits between the Mekong and a smaller river) observing fishermen setting off for the morning catch, when Victor steered us toward the steps of the Wat Tham Chom Sii. (Wat means "temple" in Thailand and Laos). We passed many monks sweeping the moss-covered concrete stairs as we huffed our way up the 350+ steps. We stopped only to take in the view and observe a 5-foot long "Buddha's footprint." Numerous Buddha sculptures had been placed in different crooks along the way also gave us a good excuse to pause, but we didn't look long on the breathtaking scenery until we reached the 360-degree lookout point at the peak. There we gazed down on the 22,000 person town of Luang Prabang, which rests easily within the hills and jungle of the Laotian countryside. As I turned around to take in the full morning view, Victor got down on one knee to propose.

I promptly yanked him back onto his feet though, as a group of Chinese tourists rounded the corner. I couldn't comfortably finish the process with twelve novice photographers waiting in the wings, so we set off back down the path in search of some privacy.

We soon came upon a sheltered platform extending out from the mountain over the Mekong river and made ourselves at home. After a small exchange of promises, Victor proposed again, and I said yes.

The pictures tell the rest of the story. While it was a long time coming, I consider Victor and my journey to the mountaintop to be a good metaphor for our life together so far. We've encountered surprising obstacles, taken some detours, and waited for the right time and place to appear. While our personalities may differ substantially, we travel well together, and the journey has been rewarding and inspiring. I would not have had it any other way.

The setting: a misty Laotian morning.

Immediately after.

The spot where she said yes.

The view from our treehouse hideaway.



JJ and Luang Prabang.

The view of the Mekong from Proposal Mount.


A re-creation. Cheesy, we know. (JJ didn't laugh through the real thing)