Using the loo and other cultural bafflements
 

The local economy needs foreign tourists but sometimes when cultures come to a "head," things need to be straightened out.

The Swiss have been enjoying a surge of Asian and Indian tourists but have realized they cannot accommodate all foreign customs. In an effort for clarity, the Swiss are now posting signs on how to use toilets, how to take no more than you can eat at breakfast buffets and, in some hotels, not to cook food in the rooms.

Here's a year-old story about one effort a local tourist attraction has undertaken to clear up any misconceptions on how toilets should be used in Switzerland:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-properly.html

I've often wondered how tourists who are used to other toilet procedures feel about sitting down and flushing the toilet paper down the toilet. Is it a luxury or just confusing? Does it cause stress or add to the adventure of travelling?

Looking forward to your thoughts.

It's confusing if you've never seen it before. The first time I encountered the squat toilet was in Morocco I said nope and went into the western style stall, thankful I had a choice. The next time I encountered the squat toilet, I was in Kazakhstan and was not pleased but I was prepared. As they say: any port in a storm.

Stress? Maybe a little but it's way way way down on the list of things I stress about. Adding to the adventure? Absolutely.

Differences in "toilet cultures" is why it's useful to carry around some FLUSHABLE wipes (even if you end up binning them instead of flushing them) and some spare toilet paper around with you no matter where you go.

sparkchaser: Women know they should always carry tissues with them because there's no guarantee there'll be toilet paper available when needed ;-)

My experience with squat toilets and placing tp in bins is quite limited. Personally, I think it's imperative for places visited by foreign tourists to post photos showing toilet usage instructions. It makes using the toilet a more comfortable experience for everyone.

That's not a bad idea.

One time in Libya I managed to pee in the area for cleaning your feet.

The shame, still the loo staff stopped laughing eventually to point out what an idiot I was.

Cultures cut both ways.

<i>Cultures cut both ways.</i>

Aye. On a train from Almaty to Aralsk I had the attendant come and yell at me in Russian for not using the toilet properly.

They may well 'pooh pooh' the strategy - but Marcel Furer, head of the regional tourist office, told 20 Minuten: 'Tourists from the Gulf region or Asian countries are not very aware of our way of living. >>

As you say, sparks, it works the other way too - it was only when we were talking on the plane home from Sri Lanka that that DH realised that the water hose next to the loo in all SL toilets was for "personal use" rather than cleaning the bog.

BTW what were you doing wrong on that Russian train? peeing in the basin?

It was a Kazakh train. And to be honest, I can't remember if I tried to flush the paper instead of using the bin or I jammed the "flush" mechanism or something else. I do remember the attendant singling me out because i was the only foreigner in that car. Oh well. It makes for a nice anecdote.

We have those signs in some toilets in Sydney ( and probably other Australian cities too). They are in one of my local shopping centres.

I've often thought people accustomed to squat toilets probably think it's disgusting to have to put one's bare posterior where another's has been.
Hence the need for those signs, I suppose.

We have toilet seat covers in the very occasional toilet here. They were more popular some years ago, but I can't remember the last time I saw cubicles fitted with them.

I've always figured that where the water and sewer systems are iffy or non-existent squat toilets are a lot more hygienic. I've also read that the position is better for you. Does take a bit of getting used to - I once wrote the "Seven Steps to Happy Squatting" for my website.

I do remember encountering one in far western China that was so bad we went round the back of the building and posted sentries instead of going indoors.

Several places (department stores, restaurants, a couple of train stations) I visited in Japan had both traditional Japanese toilets and modern 'western' ones and almost every time there was a queue for the western ones while the Japanese toilets were available . . . so there were all these Japanese ladies waiting to sit and me bypassing the queues to squat . . .

By the way, in Switzerland, if there's a line for the women's toilets but the men's are empty, it's OK for women to make use of the empty stalls.

Good to know, thanks, Kleeblatt.

I just would not be able to squat and get back up anymore. I would need a grab bar for sure. Paints an ugly picture doesn't it? LOL

So, I would have a problem if the only toilet available was a squatter.

@janisj - of course, Japan is now known for its amazing western style loos.

Great thread! My first encounter with a squat & pee was in Chiang Mai Thailand. Crefloors, you are not the only one who would need a grab bar!!! Now, when in Thailand, I only use the western style toilets. And they are not always available when we are driving through the jungle in southern Thailand on our way to Phuket from Bangkok. Travel is an adventure!

What really puzzled me the first trip (of 39, and counting) to Bangkok was the toilet hose! I've never actually used one, but DH and DS use them all the time. Although their first attempts were rather wet, requiring a change of clothing!! Haha.

The TP in the bin is possibly the reason some toilet stalls in the USA look so messy with TP on the floor and whatever, after being used by a foreigner, as the foreign users can't find the large waste bins that are always available in their homeland. Only other option... throw it on the floor??

My daughter once stayed at a convent for a week while doing research in Florence. While she was there, a group of tourists (Korean, I think, but anyway from a country that was totally unfamiliar with European bathrooms. In the morning, she heard a nun let out a scream. Someone had taken a dump in the bidet.

Makes me think of my first trip to SE Asia! I'm so glad I read up before going and was ready to use squat toilets...and knew what the hose was for. It was nice to bypass the long line of tourists waiting for western style toilets and just head into a squat toilet stall. I must admit, though, I couldn't do the hose. I brought my on toilet paper and used that. Asia was also my first bidet experience, oddly enough. It's the little things that bring you up short and really remind you you're not at home, isn't it?

I saw those same signs on several of the boats plying Lake Lucerne this past April.

thursdaysd: >>@janisj - of course, Japan is now known for its amazing western style loos.<<

I know -- I fell totally in love w those. :)

Expected one in my posh Tokyo hotel but was amazed to have one in my decidedly down market, basic guest house in Kyoto.

You, and the Swiss, can post all the "signs" they want but when you are in a hotel which costs hundreds a night and the breakfast alone is about $60 per person, I'll take, and eat whatever damned thing I want and as much as I want.

Having just returned from rural China, I can attest that there are few, perhaps one with a handicapped sign, public western style toilets. Sometimes they had pictographs on the doors letting you know which kind, squat or sit, was behind each stall door.

Sorry - the note that "in continental europe until recently they used a hole in the ground toilet" is ridiculous. Perhaps in the backwoods of eastern or central europe - but not western europe or major cities in other areas. I have been traveling in europe (practically every country you can think of) since the mid 1970s and used toilets in innumerable hotels, restaurants, tourist sights, etc and have only seen a hole in the floor toilet and that was in Russia at least 20 years ago.

However, I can sympathize with signs for those who are not ued to western toilets.

On one very unpleasant occasion in Reagan airport they had to close an entire ladies room because someone mistook a drain in the floor under a hand dryer machine for the toilet - ignoring all of the stalls.

Nytraveler, there is a hole in the floor toilet in the French part of Switzerland. I refused to use it. This was at a very basic roadside rest stop. I would give you the location but I don't recall the nearby town.

Sorry, nyt - you are incorrect. As recently as 5 years ago, we had to use a hole in the floor toilet in France. We are also well-travelled and have come across these, not frequently, however, they do still exist.

Squatters' rights is a well-settled legal issue.

I have been traveling in europe (practically every country you can think of) since the mid 1970s and used toilets in innumerable hotels, restaurants, tourist sights, etc and have only seen a hole in the floor toilet and that was in Russia at least 20 years ago. >>

i have also been forced to use a hole in the ground at a picnic ground somewhere between Roscof and the Loire - the first time was about 15 years ago and when we found ourselves in the same place 10 years later, it was still there. [If it's still there in another 5 years time, I'll let you know!] And there was one outside a chateau somewhere else in France on the same visit in 2010 [ish]

There are still plenty of hole-in-the ground toilets in Italy. If they're clean, they're actually more sanitary than the other kind. They're difficult for elderly people to use, though.

About 7 years ago, I came across such a toilet at a train station in France (maybe Bayeux?) I was with my elderly aunt and a cousin. I led my aunt to the bathroom, which was coin-operated. When she opened the door and saw the hole in the ground, she realized that she wouldn't be able to use it. So I said I'd use it instead. After I had closed the door, I realized there was a little seat on the wall, over the hole, that you could pull down. So I opened the door and told my aunt she could use it after all. After we traded places, water began to spray out from nozzles all over the toilet. Obviously after two closings of the door, the automatic cleaning mechanism got underway. My aunt got a little soaked but she was greatly amused. She offered to pay for my cousin to see it in action.

There is a youtube somewhere of someone staying in the Paris auto loos, not a pretty sight.

Has anyone else found the rotating loo seats in Switzerland? Washed loo seat between customers, mmmmh.

<i>Has anyone else found the rotating loo seats in Switzerland? </i>

I have seen those at the toilets in many train stations in Germany and at a few rest stops too.

I seem to recall first experiencing something similar to those at ORD.

Has anyone else found the rotating loo seats in Switzerland?
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Yes, but we could never decide who goes first.

I've seen those rotating seats in Italy, too.

Two municipal toilets in France had squat toilets the last time we were there, about 4 years ago: Lucéram and the very touristed perched village of Mougins.

A small restaurant in St-Paul-de-Vence has a rotating toilet seat. I've seen them in two other towns that I can't remember offhand.

Some French toilets have no seats, only the toilet rim. They appear to be designed for stand-up squatting.

>>>Perhaps in the backwoods of eastern or central europe - but not western europe or major cities in other areas. <<<

I guess that makes Milan a backwoods then. Encountered one coming out of The Last Supper. We thought it was funny to go through high-tech airlocks to see the painting and then they had a Turkish toilet.

I'm not suggesting that you can't find a hole in the floor toilet in any random place in europe (yes, a campground or a roadside rest stop that hasn't been updated in the past 60 or 70 years) but this is not the standard and hasn't been since I'm sure at least the 1950's.

I won;t say there aren't any - but have been to europe more than 100 times and the one in Russia is the only one I saw. And we did at least 20 road trips so that includes hotels and restaurants in many quite small towns in more than a dozen countries.

A very nice rest area, outside of Chamonix, had only hole in the floor toilets, 7 tears ago.

A very nice rest area, outside of Chamonix, had only hole in the floor toilets, 7 tears ago.
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Another telling Freudian typo.

Even between Europe and the US there are differences regarding the Western-style sit-down toilet.

Each time I get to the US, I keep forgetting that many toilets are lower than in Europe so the first trip is usually connected with a mildly painful free fall for a few inches between where I expect the seat cover to be and where it actually is.

It also takes a few trips to get accustomed again to the lack of privacy at public restrooms at malls etc. where the stalls offer little cover and you feel like having to squat in public.

<i>Perhaps in the backwoods of eastern or central europe - but not western europe or major cities in other areas. I have been traveling in europe (practically every country you can think of) since the mid 1970s and used toilets in innumerable hotels, restaurants, tourist sights, etc and have only seen a hole in the floor toilet and that was in Russia at least 20 years ago. </i>

Within the last ten years I came across one in a café in the 7th arrondissement in Paris--and it probably still exists. The renovated public toilets in the park in Brantôme are of the squat type.

The renovated toilets of the mosque in Plovdiv are of the same variety--Bulgarian cities are not backwards.

The brand new facilities at the Sulameney (sp?) mosque in Istanbul are of the same variety.