{Shikoku Hachijūhachikasho Meguri}
HEAT, WATER and HEALTH
I did the Henro from July 30th to September 18th, and encountered an absolute shocker of a summer. There were stretches of 35 degree plus days (95°F +), with no clouds and no wind. Dehydration was a daily threat. Twice I succumbed to heat exhaustion and dehydration in spite of my efforts. The body gets unbalanced, beyond your control. Your pee turns dark orange. Water alone is not enough. You must replenish with salts and other minerals.You must drink huge quantities of liquid. Aquarius and Pocari Sweat are good ion-replacement products. Sometimes I drank three liters of Aquarius a day. You can also add salt to regular water.

Still I became terribly ill twice, and had to slow down to a crawl, and barely walk several days. My stomach became cramped, heahaches ensued, excessive sweating, or no sweating occurred, frequent and painful urination, strange smell and colour. The thing is the body is enduring a tremendous strain by walking alone and sleeping outside every night, but add to this the heat and sun, and you have a very volatile situation. Also large amounts of food must be consumed. I am no nutritionist so Ican't really recommend what kind of food to eat in these hot and sunny days, but for me bread, rice, fish and vegetables were the best. Carbohydrates seemed to be the best and most necessary for my stomach.

Also, on those horrifically hot, shadeless days, cover your head and torso completely, even cover your face save your eyes. You will look like a bedouin marching through the Sahara, but you will not regret it.
Return