The most awful toilet in India I ever visited was in a dhaba (roadside restaurant/food joint) on National Highway 1 between Delhi and Chandigarh. It was a Western toilet. The waiter proudly showed me to the women’s toilet and as I stepped in I entered a small, dark chamber of horrors where dried poo was stuck in various places, something that looked like a hairy cocoon with a living thing inside was nesting in the toilet bowl and a vile stench filled the tiny cabin. I was sick for weeks after that day in the dhaba and I’m convinced I got the parasite from the toilet.
An Indian toilet in Gokarna: squat toilet and Western toilet in one room!
The Indian Squat Toilet
The Indian squat toilet seems to cause a lot of anxiety for first-time visitors to India. Yes, there are some truly horrible squat toilets in India. But then there are also some truly horrible Western toilets in India. When I travel in India I generally prefer the squat toilet, as squatting seems a lot more hygienic than sitting on a filthy Western toilet even if you try to cover the toilet seat with paper (and Indian toilets rarely provide paper). After years in India I also prefer the left-hand-and-water method to toilet paper.
The squat toilet is the norm in many Asian countries and is really not so difficult to use. What you find in a typical squatting toilet is a hole in the floor, and on both sides of the hole you’ll find places to put your feet on. You’ll place your feet on both sides of the hole, squat over the hole and do your business. If you’re a woman and you’re wearing a skirt you can simply lift up, the process is easy. If you’re wearing trousers, some first-timers prefer to take their trousers off to avoid any accidents.
Toilet Paper or no Toilet Paper?
Some Indian squat toilets have flushes, but many of the more basic ones just have a bucket of water and a jug for flushing. The bucket and the jug are also there as a substitute for toilet paper. Except for toilets in hotels and restaurants frequented by Westerners, most toilets in India do not provide toilet paper and most of India uses the left-hand-and-water-method instead of paper. If you feel you simply cannot bring yourself to try the local way and you need to use paper, please don’t flush it down the toilet: the Indian drainage system cannot deal with large amounts of paper. In many toilets a bin is placed conveniently within reach; put the used paper in the bin.
If you decide to experiment with the water method, you’ll find it is much more convenient than carrying rolls of toilet paper around India in your backpack. But whatever you do, remember the left hand is the dirty hand: never eat with your left hand and never hand over or receive food (or money, or actually pretty much anything) with your left hand – unless of course you’re receiving a gift with both hands together.
What do you do if you’re a man wearing western lace up shoes, and a suit and tie? How do you take a shit without getting your trousers wet or messed up? After washing your backside how do you dry yourself, or do you put on your pants with a wet ass?
Not sure what the shoes and the suit have to do with it. Even if you wear a suit, I’m sure you’ll still need to pull your pants down when you take a shlt. And whether you want to use a towel to dry yourself after you wash your butt is totally up to you.
I don’t understand the shoes and suit thing either, but regarding the towel, I think he’s asking what is customary.. are paper towels ever provided? I’m guessing no. That means you’d have to carry ass towels around with you, so I’m guessing most people don’t dry off.
Most Indian toilets do not provide paper. Most people are not so worried about drying off. Dry your butt, don’t dry it, it’s up to you and it’s not really rocket science. Nobody’s going to come in and check if you dry or not.
Top solution: wear a lungi.
It just goes together – it is quite warm weather there and, as I understand men do were quite loose clothes as well