Thursday, May 24, 2012

Awkward Travel Photo Thursday: Nemo in the Toilet

Using the restroom in Thailand is always an adventure. You never know what you'll find!

Will there be a Western-style seated toilet or a squat toilet? An automatic flushing mechanism or a bucket of water with a scoop to flush your deposits manually? Toilet paper or just a bidet-style spray hose? (Always carry your own supply of toilet paper, just in case. Always.)



In one restroom off a quiet beach on Koh Phangan, the squat toilet and the in-ground source of water for flushing looked quite similar. This creepy, Nemo-like painting stared me down and warned me to choose wisely as I surveyed the situation.

I'm sure plenty of tourists made the wrong decision before someone appointed Nemo to lay down the law. And I'm... pretty sure that I made the right one.

Apparently, Western-style toilets present just as much of a problem for those who are more accustomed to squat toilets. As seen in a Bangkok restaurant's restroom:


I... just... hmm. That last one had never occurred to me.

Do you have any travel-related bathroom mishaps to share? I know many people will consider this a gross topic, but I think it's interesting how basic human functions are carried out so differently across the world, and how lots of us manage to screw it up as we travel. I even read How to Shit Around the World before I began my trip and I was still confused in several situations!

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8 comments:

  1. I'll share mine ( I can laugh now about it). I've been living between South Korea and Hawaii the last 18 months. Most bathrooms there are squatty potties or bidet style with lots of options (heat, bidet, flush, music, etc) Of course everything is in Korean so after I peed I went to flush but I couldn't tell which one was the flush button. I hit what I thought was and nothing happened except I started to here water running. I looked down to see water was spraying all over my khaki pants. It looked like I had just peed myself. I definitely got some funny looks walking out of the bathroom!

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    1. That is hilarious!! Definitely one of those experiences you just have to laugh about to keep from getting too upset. Thanks for sharing!

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  2. "I'm sure plenty of tourists made the wrong decision before someone appointed Nemo to lay down the law."

    I'm hoping that same line doesn't apply to the bottom right diagram.

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    1. I have no clue what's going on in the bottom right diagram. I'd hate to think about cleaning that up!

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  3. I've got a similar photo from a hotel in Nanning, China. But minus the creative urinal shot. (That is a urinal, right?)

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    1. I think so, which is weird because the bathroom it was posted in was just a single-toilet situation... no urinal to be found!

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  4. HAHA! I read How To Shit Around The World the first week of my trip... totally scared me for a good month after. I still have trouble eating raw veggies!

    My first encounter with a Squat toilet was on the inca trail and after 3 days of hiking... my thighs couldn't handle it. I need to work out more before I get to SEA I think.

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    1. I was SO thankful to have strong quads from running when I first encountered squat toilets!! And I never ate fresh veggies either, and was so happy to eat salads when I returned home. Maybe I was too paranoid, but I never got sick!!

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