I decided to participate in this month’s blog swap.  My partner and I were a little slow, so we are posting today instead of on Monday.  What?  It’s better to be late than never.  🙂

My swap partner is Olivia from Powered By Tofu.  She has traveled the world and seen some very cool things – including some very strange toilets.  In honor of my post about German toilets a few weeks ago, she has decided to share some of her potty humor with you!  Without further ado, here’s Olivia!

You’ll always remember your first squat toilet.

During my year of traveling around the world, I’ve seen my fair share of toilets. My first non-Western toilet experience was in Panama. The country had a mix of regular toilets, squatters, holes in the ground, outhouses, and fields… well, the field part was only because I didn’t want to use the filthiest bathroom I had ever seen (this was pre-China). My apologies to the farmers who may or may not have seen me peeing in their field (I still have no idea where they came from).

Next stop, China — home of the squat toilet, if you’re lucky. Seeing Chinese girls come teetering out of the toilets in 5 inch heels, I was completely baffled as to how they balanced on those “starting blocks”. Apparently they have the same confusion as to why we would sit on a filthy toilet, as evident of the signage in the [rare] Western toilet stalls.

In contrast, Japan is home of the futuristic toilet. Think heated (yes, I said heated) seats and more buttons than you know what to do with. They even have a musical “toilet flushing sound” button, because they’re that proper. 😉

Finally, there was SE Asia. Toilets in Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Cambodia are about the same standards as China… bring your own tissues and make it quick! Most hotels have Western-style toilets, but be prepared for pretty much anything when you’re out for the day.

What’s your most memorable travel toilet experience?

toilet-japan

A hi-tech Japanese toilet

toilet-sign-cambodia

A toilet sign in Cambodia

“This post is a part of 20SB’s Blog Swap, and has been graciously sponsored by Bouncer, the latest in cellular and Internet-based privacy services.”

You can read my post about the 10 things that make me happy about Germany at Olivia’s blog!