Toilets!
Toilets in Indo are also different from western toilets. Most of Indo uses squat toilets. Most people cannot and/or refuse to use sit-down toilet because they worry about the hygiene condition of the sit-down toilets. They believe that lots of people sit down on it and it means lots of germs from many people have stayed on it. Even if they have to use sit-down toilets, most people prefer to squat on the sit-down toilet instead of sitting on it.
Another difference is the flushing system in Indonesia. In the squat toilet system, we have to pour down water from the water dipper into toilets to flush. And it’s very important to flush afterwards because it’s considered not polite if you don’t flush in the toilet after using it. As Indo has lots of water, a lot of water is used and splashed everywhere to clean it. Don’t worry about water availability, the most important thing is… to FLUSH.
Indonesians also clean themselves with water and soap instead of using toilet paper. So, better to bring tissue while travelling if you are not comfort with this system yet because most toilets in Indo do not provide tissues
Most Indonesian toilet systems are not developed very well, so putting tissues, pads or tampons down the toilet can easily cause a blockage. In many restaurants, a special basket inside toilets is provided as a trashcan for used tissues.
Of course, most hotels and fancy restaurants will have western style toilets!
I should have clarified, and I'm sorry I didn't, that there are still plenty of Western style toilets around. All of the hotels you will stay at, the restaurants we will eat at and even most of the malls have seat, not squat toilets. The places that have squat toilets are villager's houses, small waroengs, old malls, some public toilets like airports. (To avoid this, check out the Garuda lounge for 50,000 rupiah - tell them you are flying Garuda even if you aren't, in my experience they don't check).
ReplyDeleteEven if a place has Western toilets, however, they may not have toilet paper - if using a semprot (spray hose) bothers you, carry a small packet of tissues in your pocket.