A trek to the little-visited Indian base camp of Kangchenjunga

I along with my friends planned a trip to the little-visited Indian base camp of Kanchenjunga last October. We were a team of six trekkers all equally passionate about trekking and mountaineering. Kangchenjunga is the third highest mountain in the world. To trek in the Zemu valley we required clearances from a number of Government departments as well as the Army. There exist a complicated permit system to trek to the northeast base camp of Kangchenjunga in the Zemu valley, sometimes it will take months to obtain. We were fortunate as we got this rare chance without much waiting. This was a full-service trek. The trek cost around Rs 8000/- per person per day for a group of six trekkers. We got accompanied with a cook, kitchen staff, porters, guide and a liaison officer deputed by the Sikkim Government.

We started from Gangtok. We stayed at Mintokling guest house there. From Gangtok it took around six hours to reach Lachen. We reached Lachen following the Teesta Valley. Lachen is situ