First time, I tried scaling up the steep sides of the sand dunes of Michigan lake with my friend Aditi, I did so successfully. Except that I blacked out in the end.

Second time, I tried another very large sand dune in Mongolia with my friend Roger. I had explained him the details… “Roger, the sand is so loose that for every one and a half foot step, I am going to slide down about a foot. Which means, I am going to spend too much energy. Mt heartbeat will soar. Being the idiot I am, I am not going to give in. I will keep doing till either I reach the destination or my brain decides to put the whole body in unconscious state to stop the idiocy. It will last a minute or minute and a half. No need to panic. No need to throw water on my face. I will come around and and then we can go down like nothing had happened.” He thought I was kidding.

You should ask him what surprised him the most – my prediction, my blacking out like clockwork or climbing down like nothing had happened.

I faced the sand dune challenge third time in my life – The Curoninan Spit. It seemed like the slopes were not that steep and mit was not that high. Plus the sand was fairly firm.

Also, I did not come to this country to simply walk away after looking at the sand dune.

So, the trek began with my friend…