If last week’s Friday Fives didn’t make you lose you lunch, this one surely will. Yes, we’re here to address some of Asia’s worst with ‘5 Toilets You Don’t Want to Find in Asia’
Perhaps only marginally less famous than the old E=mc2, is the equation of;
Asia + Toilets = Scary
This is a proven fact that anyone who has traveled to the continent can attest to. Toilets there are the stuff nightmares are made of. Worst part is, they’re pretty much unavoidable.
It’s not even the squat-toilet element that’s the issue here – in fact, the squat is a blessing in disguise as it greatly reduces the potential of skin-to-porcelain contact, which as we will see, can only be a good thing. What makes these bathrooms so downright traumatising is, well, see for yourself…
5 Toilets You Don’t Want to Find in Asia
#1 – The Hotel Toilet, Varanasi, India:
First up is what you might consider to be a fairly standard public toilet in Asia… Definitely not the worst toilet you’ll find, but what makes this so upsetting is that it wasn’t a public toilet, it was IN MY HOTEL ROOM! Are you friggen serious? Have we never heard of bleach? They sell it in the shop around the bloody corner! Let me shout you a bottle.
You’ve got to be kidding me? I paid for this?? ©TheseRoads
Oh, and see that red bucket next to the toilet? Yeah, that’s dual function bucket used not only to flush the toilet (note the absence of any flushing system) but also in place of toilet paper… mmmm (note – it’s the water in the bucket, and not the bucket itself that is used for this).
If you’d rather opt out of using grotty tap water to clean your bits I suggest you carry a pack of tissues with you everywhere you go – but don’t even attempt to flush them if you don’t want this baby to clog up and flood your bathroom.
#2 – The Open-Air Out House, Battambang, Cambodia:
Want a little fresh air and zero privacy in your bathroom experience? Head up Sampov Mountain in Battambang, Cambodia for this wonderful loo…
Be at one with nature. ©TheseRoads
Let me add that I was standing on the main path up the mountain when I took this photo – no camera zoom required – so not only can you be at one with nature while you go about your business, you can also do it with an audience! Yay!
#3 – The Urinal, Khajuraho, India:
You’ll note that India features heavily in this list – the toilets there are undoubtedly the worst I’ve had to force myself to use. The other thing about public bathrooms in India is that there aren’t many of them for women – they tend to favour the male urinal, which, after seeing (and smelling) the urinal below, I have come to believe is a very good thing.
I’m so, so glad I’m not a boy. ©TheseRoads
Seriously disgusting… check out the, erm, pool around the little foot platforms. *Gag*
#4 – Tibet’s Highest Toilet:
At close to 5,000m above sea level, apparently this is the highest public toilet in Tibet. Evidently that’s where the fanfare ends. Take my word for it and don’t look at this photo too closely.
Tibet’s Higest Toilet ain’t so flash. ©TheseRoads
Surely this would have to take out the double title of Tibet’s highest AND most disgusting toilet… Surely
#5 – The Grand Poobah, India:
At a backward little bus terminal somewhere between Jaipur and Ajmer in the Indian state of Rajasthan, is the World’s Worst Toilet. The Grand Poobah of Badness…
One word: Rank ©TheseRoads
I’m sure no one will be surprised to learn that none of the women in the bathroom queue chose to use this throne of filth. You may, however, be a little shocked to hear that rather than wait for the other, slightly less repulsive, squat cubicle to become vacant, the majority of the women in this horrible bathroom simply chose to answer the call of nature by peeing on the floor – something that significantly upped the stakes of foulness in what was already the World’s Worst Toilet.
Does Asia have the worst toilets in the world? Have you seen worse elsewhere?
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THESE ROADS 
I just puked in my mouth. Awful, awful stuff.
Nothing as bad as that in South America, Al?
What a charming display of crappers! I found some bad poo-holes in Thailand but none as bad as those.
Gawd-awful things aren’t they? I’ve been home 8 months now and the novelty of cleanliness and toilet paper still hasn’t worn off!
Arh, there is nothing as smell or unkept than an Asian toilet. There is nothing worse than having Bali belly and being forced to use one of those toilets. I did. The horror.
You poor thing… I can truly sympathize. It’s so unfair that these horrible toilets are found in the places where you’ll undoubtedly need them most!
WOW ! WOrld Toilet Day is fast approaching- November 19! DO you know the World Toilet Organization? They campaign for safe healthy sanitation in developing countries and their founder was the former mayor of Suwon! He died in March but I was lucky and got to go into his ‘toilet house’ recently- here in Suwon he made a house that looks like a giant toilet. Anyway, he worked to eradicate this sort of dangerous shit-
I knew about ‘Mr. Toilet’ and his toilet-shaped house – I never got around to seeing it, but it was a deciding factor in my decision to move to Suwon! World Toilet Day, however, I did not know about! Perhaps I’ll send these photos along to the lesser known WTO (T- for toilet, not for trade) and see if they want to use it in the marketing campaign!
Next Friday I wanna see top 5 crazy cool toilets you found in Japan, I’m sure there were some?! 🙂
Cool indeed! I think I got a photo of one… not 5 though. I’ll find a way to work it into a post soon for you Beth 🙂
They make the Now Bar washrooms look like a five star hotel!
Mate, I’d sleep in those Now Bar toilets over actually using these ones any day… sad thing is that I did actually have to use some of these ones. I feel so violated.
You had to use some of these! Which ones?!!!
Unfortunately yes- the 1st one was in a hotel room we had in India (so had to use it several times) and the 4th one was a nice roadside loo i visited in Tibet. Thankfully from the others I was spared of actually using!
believe it or not, back in 1999 i worked at a carwash in Albany, NY where the men’s employee restroom must have NEVER been cleaned, EVER. granted, it was for employees, and not for the public, but it looked just like the toilet in that last picture. I never used it, but used the customer toilet instead.
Eeeeew! I can’t imagine having to look at that thing on a daily basis! I would’ve used the customer loos as well!
actually I have used worse in India, though I certainly wouldn’t want to take a picture let alone post it. it was a train station somewhere. it was a balancing act. anyway great pics here !
Balancing act indeed! Some of the positions we get ourselves into when trying maneuver around these loos are quite impressive at times! Thanks for your comment, Fleix.
you guys complain alot. the toilets you pictured here from india seemed clean by indian standards.
if you want to travel you can’t expect everything to be like home.
Of course, Will. Travel is about seeing new things – which would be no fun if everything was like home. Comparing what you find overseas to what you know from home is also a bit of fun though.
Sometimes I forget how lucky we are to not find these kind of toilet in our daily life. 🙂
You can say that again!
The most disgusting toilet I’ve ever seen was in a McDonalds in London. It looked like someone sprayed crap all over the walls directly from their anus, there were bloody pads overflowing from the trash can and all over the floor, and just crap all over the floor and toilet. It was disgusting. It was like someone turned on a fecal sprinkler in that bathroom.
Ugh, that sounds a lot like a toilet I saw in Burger King in Seoul… I had a photo but couldn’t bring myself to share that image with another living soul. People are so gross sometimes!
India is filthy…garbage everywhere, bodies even lying by the side of the sidewalk, Ganges river is the worst, people bathing in the river and you have carcases floating in the river . You haven’t been to their worst toilet yet. I visited India once. DO NOT BUY any drinks or water from the shops, will cause diarrhea. That is why today, i always say no to any assignment that requires me to go to india.
India can certainly be a pretty confronting place but, for me at least, it’s one of the most incredible countries I’ve seen – there’s really never a dull moment in India and dodgy toilets aside, I can’t wait to return. There are many others out there that feel as you do though… each to their own I guess.
Thanks for dropping by These Roads.
I was raised in India and now I live in the US. Couple of observations: The stuff I have seen growing up there is not even close to what you have captured. It’s way way worse than anyone can imagine. And not just in a few places… throughout the country, the north, east, west.. but not too sure about the south as I haven’t traveled much there. The general level of hygiene is very low. From the toilets, to personal upkeep (shaving, getting hair cuts, wearing clean clothes), to civic sense. Its especially bad when it comes to civic sense. Throwing trash where ever you feel like and not respecting public property. On the other hand, the inefficient government doesn’t help either by not maintaining the few facilities that are there. The whole country’s mind set has to change and elevate regarding this. The country being poor run by corrupt officials doesn’t help either. Things are improving but not at the pace where I could see it come up to par with other advanced nations in Asia (like Japan, South Korea, Singapore, etc) in my lifetime.
The other thing I wanted to mention is that although I prefer toilet paper any day over using water to clean up, I still think that water is the cleaner way if you look at it purely from a scientific viewpoint. I have since discovered baby wipes as the happy medium.
Thank you for your insight, Jerry.
I was really surprised to see that everyone just threw their trash out of the train windows and all over the street in India. I’m not sure I saw a public trash can anywhere in the country – which I think shows the lack of government initiative in dealing with waste disposal. If you look at how widely the changes in public smoking laws have been adapted, I’m sure a trash can system would be equally embraced!
I’m with you 100% on the baby wipes!
In fact, I guess it is the real world….the great part of the bathrooms in Africa, American Latin and Asia (mainly China maybe) are like that.
In littles towns in not urban area in world are this way…
The poorness still is one big problem in around the world!
Regards form Brazil.
o banheiro do meu irmao