Bathroom

thats odd

Those are interesting. A friend who was in India a couple of years ago said some of their public toilets are still like this. A hole in the floor that you squat over.

Holy shit, that's primitive. ... Ick. This place is really out of the ordinary, it's awesome.

I hear that in china that that is true at least you have handles

Whoa, you said it best Ericam- primitive indeed

I did a one-niter in a jail in Okla city 30 years ago. All they had in the tank was a hole in the floor. Which of course everyone who tried, missed. Maybe because they didn't have the cool feet positioning marks.

EEw....one slip of the hand, and.......eeeew...

I've heard about this type of toilet before, my dad was stationed in Frankfurt, Germany when he was in the Army. There are tons of great places to explore over there, you should go to Germany Motts!

Ewwww

I have been lurking for a couple of months and finally decided to post....about a toilet. Hee, hee...

Anyway, my brother lived in Eastern Europe for a couple of years and has talked about this style of toilet. As far as he could tell those citizens of Eastern Europe didn't have the best aim either. Some of them are even elevated so you step up on a ledge and do your thing.

The small hotel where I lived for a while in Prunay, France in 1959 was like this, except there was a water tank above, high on the wall with a handle attached to a chain, hanging down. Hence, the expression: "pull the chain when you finish"!

this toiletts are even in our days common in belgium. most public toiletts on the highways are like this, just inkluding a water flush from within the wall.

I heard about that type of toilet, never seen it- until now. I read in a book somewhere they were called "Turkish-type" toilet, or I might be mistaken....

That is fricken weird as hell.

That is absolutely disgusting. I just dont even know what else to say

hehe, ive seen these in Belgium, Holland, France, and once in Germany. They aint uncommon in mainland Europe...but yeah they suck.

They're all over Europe, seriously-- I've had a few less-than-plesant experiences...

those toilets exist in some public places here too (italy), and i reckon they're popular in india, they have the advantage to be pretty hygienic: basically you don't put your ass where tons of other people have. too bad many people miss the hole :p

These toilets are still prevalent in Italy. I'll remember being in Genoa at their brand new football stadium. What were the 'toilets'? A hole and 2 foot marks - this was 1990.

I've seen those before; Italy, Tunisia, Qatar, Saudi. Sometimes they have handles and sometimes they don't. We simply called them "bomb drops". Aptly named if you eat the local cuisine.

Hey at least there is handles for those long hauls in the bathroom.... can you think of what it would be like if with out those things....

ewwwww that smell, cant you smell that smell

There ain't more pride than in an American Commode! At least you can read when you sit.

they're almost the same in my school, without the handles though ;)
and such toilets are quite common in eastern europe, especially in bus or train stations.
it's a kind of heritage from the soviet times, not too comfy, but surely hygenic :)

kinda makes me think bout camping.....just nicer.....and no digging

mmm... latrines for the indoors...

i saw these in france along the highway & in italy in the train station, just as malvina described. it reminded me of drunken camping trips when you had to go pee in the woods.
mink

if u r gona have to go to these discusting limits, why don't u just go in the woods???

I spent this past summer in China, and these types of toilets were all they had (unless you stayed in a hotel, which had the Western toilets that most of us are used to). I'm pretty sure that all of them in China did not have handles, and there were even a handful that did not even flush.
I was in Italy this past winter (Which a few people mentioned above) and I never saw a toilet like this, but I'm sure you people are right and they probably had them places. It's part of the fun of traveling though, you learn to deal with unfamiliar things like this.
Great pictures, by the way. I love this site.

Umm, I hope these are for men?(sorry guys) but I couldn't imagine us women trying something like this (ha ha ha)- not even after drinking!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squat_toilet

they're not uncommon. and they're not "absolutely disgusting". they're just different and i think the pros outweigh the cons.

Ok so what happens if you’re constipated or if you have diarrhea. Ya know like if you have to spend some time working it out. I don't know about you but I can only squat for so long before I have to strech my legs, and I don't want to stand up before I wipe. I'm assuming your supposed to wipe right?

Yowie, I've never seen anything like this!

The potential mess ON your feet after the deed is why I hate camping (I love camping, but have to have a sit-down portapotty)!

Hmm...Interesting, that this pic is leading the leauge of comments...
By the way, the heap of fekal matter can be higher in this kind of contraption before it's rendered usless than in a normal one, which i guess is useful when wasting money on hygien isn't on top of the owners agenda.

Tank you Motts, and all others who gives us those magnificent pics to enyoy!!

these kinds of toilets are all over europe (particularly Western Europe)

wow, wish there was some of those at some bars!! lol

I pooped in a hole once!

I would just have to hold it until I got back to civilization!!

The current toilet seat is a comparatively new invention. It was developed in the Industrial revolution by people who thought it was more 'dignified' to sit on a 'throne' than the way the natives did. However, many doctors at the time were worried about this causing health problems because it went against nature. If you have ever felt, as many, many people do, that after you have evacuated, there is still something left, here is the reason:

The anal canal is UNSTRAIGHTENED when seated. Bowel evacuation when seated results frequently in OBSTRUCTIVE CONSTIPATION.

Adopt a relaxed, FULL SQUAT POSTURE and the anal canal STRAIGHTENS

Oncologists have observed that 80% of colon cancers occur in the caecum and the sigmoid colon, the two areas that are not fully evacuated in the sitting posture. This causes fecal stagnation and probably explains why colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. In traditional Asian and African cultures where squatting is the norm, colon cancer is virtually unknown!

Maybe there is a monster in that hole

and you thought the other toilets were hard to deal with!!!!!!!

these toilets can seen all over mainland Europe and Asia in public places. The western loo seat is thought to be unhygienic in Asia and they are kinda right i suppose, but try using one of these on a boat on a stormy rough day at sea in Thailand! not fun!

that would not bother me at all, if i have to go i have go. we are such a bunch of prudes that rely on western inventions we would not know how to survive in the freezing cold in the middle of the forest! i would rather squat on that toilet and do my thing than having colon cancer!