Queen of the throne?

(It's Val writing this and not Nik, although he would have liked to write a toilet post)

I'm not sure about you, but in my travels I have always found that the differences between the washrooms of various countries, cities and even buildings are always very interesting. I remember being in Europe with my parents (while I was studying in Dublin) and noticing that every single toilet we used seemed to flush a different way.  From a handle on the tank like we are used to in Canada, to a kind of string on the ceiling, to a button on the wall or a pedal on the floor.  My mom and I used to laugh that sometimes it took us a while to figure out how to flush the toilet.

Then, as we were passing somewhere in France, we stopped at a restaurant and went to the washroom.  My mom and I were both quite surprised by the "toilet" we found, as we had never encountered these before.

Hole in the floor kind of toilet. I first encountered these in France. 

Even in Greece, the public washrooms are often tricky, again, compared to Canada.  Sometimes there is toilet paper.  Rarely is there a seat to the toilet.  The actual toilet bowl being very dirty.  If you ask me, between the hole in the floor and the dirty seatless toilet, I prefer the former. Plus, two birds one stone as you can do a mini leg workout at the same time, depending on how you position yourself. For myself the seatless toilet is not too big of an issue, because I can squat over it.  But when I bring Eva or Zoé to the washroom, their legs are not big enough, so it's a bit of an issue. Aside from that, the other main difference between Greece and Canada is that in Greece, like in many other countries around the world, you cannot put your toilet paper in the toilet as it will plug the system (As a side note, nobody told me this when I was in Togo.. I think I plugged their toilet many times).  No big deal for this, we are used to it as are the kids.  You just have to take out the trash more often.

Enter southeast Asia.  Where to begin?  Well, like in Greece I believe that in most places here you are not supposed to put your toilet paper in the toilet.  That being said, it doesn't say it anywhere, so I think most people do.  As mentioned, since we are used to it we don't mind, and we have been refraining, as a preventing measure.  The second major difference is that every single toilet here has a hose attached to the toilet, with which you can wash yourself instead of, or in addition to, toilet paper.

The norm in Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia.

Using the actual hose is quite interesting when you have no experience and no guidance in this matter (more on this further down).  I have used it on the kids a few times and Zoé said she has used it herself, but mostly when we were down at the pool (and therefore already wet) as there is no toilet paper in that washroom.  My personal usage, however, is quite limited. Let's say that the pressure varies, and that sometimes it is very cold!  :) Toilet paper here (not just in Vietnam, but in the other countries we have visited so far in SE Asia) is not that common.  Nor is soap.  Or paper to dry your hands with.  When I leave the house I usually make sure I bring toilet paper or kleenex and Purell and this has helped us, and others, on many occasions.

We have encountered the hole in the ground toilet on occasion here, but they are not that common.  If I have the choice I will usually choose that one since I don't have to touch or even come close to touching anything.  I have shown the girls how to use them as well, with varying success rates. There have been times when the floor was not at all as "clean" when we left the stall as when we entered it, or when their shoes (which are usually sandals.. beurk) where not as dry as they used to be.  But hey, its a process, and we always get a good laugh out of it.

Now it gets more interesting during our trip to Malaysia. Since I am not too motivated to run in HCMC, whenever we go on holiday, especially to a beach, I make a point of trying to run regularly, even if it is very short distances.  The best time to do this is usually in the morning, as it is cooler, we aren't doing anything yet, and I havent pigged out on any meals yet.  The problem with this, of course, is that my system is just about finishing to process the food from dinner the night before, so it seems that whenever I set out on a run I suddenly have to go as soon as I am almost at my midway point, which means the furthest away from my hotel.  This happened when running on the beach, in Langkawi, and all I could find were portable toilets, with no TP.  So I kept running/walking until I found the nicest hotel and explained my predicament.  Luckily I was granted access to their facilities.  Now you would think that for my next run I would plan ahead, but nope... I am not that quick.

So on another run I head to the nice park behind the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur.  This park is beautiful, but I will explain that when I finally get around to the post about the 2nd part of our trip.  Anyways, when I realize I need to go again, this time I am not worried because I have spotted really nice washrooms that I know are well maintained because I have seen many staff in them.  So I head there, only to remember that in Malaysia it seems that most of the public washrooms are what is sometimes referred to as "wet toilets".  Because of the hose, which most people use, there is very rarely toilet paper and the floor and toilet is often completely soaked. This was the case this time. I had no choice so I decided I would give it a shot nonetheless, but to make a long story short, I wasn't sure how to get the angle right, or the appropriate amount of pressure, or how not to soak everywhere else but the target area....  Anyways, I did what I had to do to the best of my ability and got out of there. I ran a little more but was a bit uncomfortable so I headed home.  😜

I have not used the hose since then, but I have started doing a little bit of research and found this blog to be quite educational and interesting (and short).

How to use a butt spray

Enjoy the read! Oh, and if somebody reading this is an experience hose user, suggestions are greatly appreciated!