Seven Lakes Trek- Arunachal Pradesh- Preparation & Anini
The 7 Lake Trek in Arunachal Pradesh takes you through a myriad of terrains and requires strength, determination & most importantly resilience- any training that one has to do, has to train out all of these areas. We completed the trek in June of 2024, as I write this, this year has been weird in weather patterns.
Preparation
I prepared for the trek by running, daily walks, pilates and incline walks on the treadmill for about six months. I think all of these served me well, however if I could change things around, I would've practiced doing all of these within a matter of 6 hours every day two weeks before the trek.
Anini
The trek begins at Anini, if you complete it via Emudu Trekkers, who are the only trekking company that offers this trek at the moment, for reasons we will get into shortly. If you arrive a few days early, it is also recommended to do some mini treks within the town to get your muscles moving. You can find out more about trails from your homestay. We completed a 20-kilometer practice trek, through the Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary- two days before the actual trek began, around Dri River and the weather/the terrain/the scenery was absolutely gorgeous. This is also the last stop to stock up on whatever goods are required for the trek.
The last time to make some important decisions:
Boots: We also used this time to make probably one of the best decisions for this trek- we picked up some gumboots from the Anini town center. I know that you'd have read this in the travel brochure and potentially in some of the other web pages, so I'll reiterate. This is a critical decision that helped us truly navigate this terrain. Given that we made this decision fairly late, we ended up using the insoles from our shoes at the bottom of the boots and then some black foam that we got at the store as complimentary insole. This was last minute, best to get nice ones from Amazon/Shoe stores per your preference.
Blackflies: Not going to lie with this one, these fellows are omnipresent, with bites that sear into your flesh (a thin deep needle) and swelling that will pop up shortly after a few days. It's been a month since we've been back and while the wounds are healing, the itchiness continues to be prevalent. What worked for us was Odomos, do get the spray so it's easier to put them on your clothes. These fellows can bite through your clothes. Additionally, do get some hydrocortisol cream to tackle any reactions to the bites such as swelling.
Axe-Oil: On Day three of the trek, there are variations in height alternating between 12000 to 14000 feet and I had Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) at this point. While we had diamox, I had trouble with breathing and low key freaked out- the eucalyptusy oil helped freshen up my nasal passages and more importantly got me a sense of comfort so I could relax and stop dragging my breath.
Umbrella: We found this strange. What could an umbrella do that rain gear couldn't?! Well not a lot but it certainly pays to have options. When it's raining and one has to walk to the bathroom. It also a lot quicker to dry, and can be used in some cases as a trekking stick although this is not recommended. It's not always comfortable to wear rain gear, and the umbrella was a great alternative for light drizzles.
Now that we've had the important aspects out of the way, sharing some more pictures from our walk through the beautiful Dibang Valley.
 A view of Matho Valley & Dri River from Anini. |
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| Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary |
 Saurauia Punduana - Critically endangered, found in Dibang Valley |
 The drop dead gorgeous Dibang River |
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