Monday, 21 September 2009
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Facing Mud Made "Squatties" in Yunnan
Submitted by Ms_Moca from A Pair of Panties and BoxersThe one thing I absolutely loathe about China is the lack of Western toilets. Those hole-in-the-ground-you-have-to-pee-by-squatting apparatuses make me cringe every time. I’m a girl — how am I supposed to pee that way?!So when my roommates and I decided to trek westward for fall break, towards rural Yunnan and Sichuan, I had to put on a brave face and come to terms with the fact that I’d be using nothing but “squatties.”
Five hours into the bumpy bus ride and two bottles of water later, I was bursting with thoughts of shiny automatic-flush toilets and marble sinks. Alas, what greeted me at the makeshift rest stop was an outhouse made out of mud and three little children asking for a 50 cents fee for using their “bathroom.”
I hurriedly deposited the coins into their eagerly awaiting palms before standing in line behind my fellow travelers. I held my breath in anticipation of the stench that will inevitably waft up my nostrils.
When it was my turn to step behind the tiny cloth drape that doubled as the door, I realized why there was a such a long line to begin with; there were 3 ditches lined up next to one another, with the teeniest of mud walls to separate each one.
We, being Westerners, have an innate sense of privacy that non-Westerners don’t recognize. The shame of seeing each other with our pants down forced us to go in one at a time, while the locals watched us curiously and asked each other in Chinese “How come they can’t see that there are 3 stalls in there?!”
As I squatted down, I realized that these ditches were more advanced than I thought. They were carefully dug so that it slanted down towards the holes in the outhouse wall, where everything will inevitably end up. I didn’t dare to walk around the area to find out.
But the silver lining of this experience? I realized that peeing outdoors in the open air is TEN TIMES better than peeing indoors with bad plumbing. Oh, and about 2 hours after that bathroom incident, we had the chance to see a panoramic view of Lugu Lake.
Have you ever had to do something out of your comfort zone? Have you used a squat potty?
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About the Author
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- From: Ms_Moca@xanga
- Name: Monica
- Location: Brooklyn, New York, United States
- About Me: Art. Museum. Theater. Broadway. Music. Drawing. Leisure readings. Intelligent men. Funny Guys. Dancing. Whip Cream. The city at night. Romances. Crossword puzzles. Everything bagel toasted with cream cheese. Cookie dough ice cream. Starbucks' Caramel Macchiato. Buffalo chicken with blue cheese & a Corona with lime.Traveling. Quality Time. Sunny Days & Blue Skies.
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Comments (23)
I dont think I would mind it so much. I have no shame.
Yep, I had a friend who refused to come study abroad with me in China for fear of the toilets. My worst bathroom experience was probably at a gas station. The dividers were about half as tall as I was, and the ditch ran below all the "stalls." You could just look over the wall at your neighbor and watch her change her pad or drop a turd. Oh and there were no doors either. So people waiting impatiently for your stall could just stare directly at you as you peed. And of course, no toilet paper and no flushing.
Hahahha.
I had to face that for a month when i was in China..when i visited my grandma and aunties/uncles....it was in "the bathroom"...where the shower was also there. So basically you're looking down in the toilet hole..while having a shower.
So agree with you on the bathroom thing. Gross, but still way better than being in a dirty city lavatory. Even in the U.S.
I did that when I went to China, back when I was ten. But haven't had to do it since.
It's kind of expected that the toilets would be holes in the ground, cuz China isn't a fully developed country, but I was kind of shocked to see that most toilets in Japan were also holes in the ground. In a restroom of 12 stalls, only one would be a Western style toilet where you actually sit. My Japanese friend says it's because Japanese people don't like to sit on toilets, and I was like, "So they'd rather squat?!" That's one aspect of the culture I'll never understand.
How intresting to read through I never really thought about that as part of travel
I've used those squatties a million times. I actually started to appreciate them when walking into a not so clean bathroom.
How does big people pee or have to go a #2?
When one has squatted all one's life, one can't do the numbers any other way....so in the Western countries. one sees foot prints on the rims of toilets where a squatter had been. Squatting builds muscles!.
I used the squatty all the time in Indonesia and Thailand. Sometimes it was weird taking a shower and having the squatty in the same confined space, using the same water to shower/flush....which, the house in Indonesia there were 2 pet fish that lived in the water as well. Sanitary right?
It took me a long time to get use to it but then I kind of liked it, it did build the calf muscles! Only thing is the splatter..and yes it does you just have to get over it. Oh so many great stories.
Oh, and I've never seen such a beautiful squatty! That picture makes it look pleasant!
Oh yes the squat-pots =] I think the worst ones I was ever in had maggots on the piles of feces . . . yeah beyond yuk =[ The low walls in most public bathrooms (or lack thereof) was also a challenge for this Westerner. Once we stopped at a mud structured bathroom in a small mountain village where there were just holes in the ground and no door on the doorway and two little boys peeked in thru the opening and laughed at all the white rear ends =]
ye i didnt mind them as a kid, then first time i saw em when i came back for a visit......they looked, well a tad daunting.
Then i realised that it was actually easier doing the ol' number 2 in those :O
But mostly, i just liked the idea of not having to sit on the same toilet seat the last person had his/her butt stuck too XD
i don't mind squatting, actually.
whenever i'm in mainland china or thailand, i always choose the squatters - there's a smaller queue, for one thing, and also because the posture used in squatting is helpful for bowel movements.so basically i can go easier XDThis sounds like a better story than my friend trekking in the Negev desert having to squat with *no* privacy. They just handed him some toilet paper. Nice!
there was a time in my life when even squatties were a luxury. Our volunteer team of six had to dig holes, and lasted on one roll of toilet paper for 3 days for all six of us.
That is just.... odd.
I would hate it there.
I remember when I was in seventh grade I was so afraid to use the squatties in my first time in China. I couldn't aim LOL. I ruined a tea house because of that...
eh, when I lived in Spain a lot of rural restaurants/gas stations had things like this. It was in a bathroom stall (yeah ) but the "toilet" was just slits cut into the concrete. you stood over them and went. I hated them. Shelby Stone.....Cherry Picking Time.....A1AdultEbooks.com
I hate those so much that it's one of my top reasons for not agreeing to my dad's request for me to move to China. However, the short walls aren't that much of a problem to me. I realized you can't see across it when you're squatting (though I don't know how short the walls you saw are).
I squat anyway... Who wants to deal with accidentally sitting in urine?
yes i have. i don't like it though.
Squatty Potties aren't that bad :P
You squat, you go, no butt germs from others...