First Time Squatter

I just had probably the worst toilet experience of my life! and this beats Cuba… My first time using a “squatter” was not by choice, however on a 20 hour train journey there is no other option.

I had what I thought was a safe lunch – fried rice with vegetables from a supermarket – although by the time I strapped on my bag and began my hour and a half trek to the train station, my belly was starting to turn…. I hesitated going in the station because I can’t leave my bags alone and I could smell the wretched washrooms  as I passed by.

So by the time I got on the train I really had to go, luckily I had a stash of toilet paper in my pocket for such emergencies (thanks mom)… So a squatter is basically a sunken toilet bowl in the floor, which has feet grippers on the sides for you to squat overtop of. Being a girl this is really difficult as I am not used to “aiming” especially not with number two! So i did my best and then had to figure out how to flush? The only other thing than the hole was a bucket occupying half of the tiny space, so i dumped it all over the floor! That’s when I found the magic button to open the valve and the worst was over.

Its a good thing I travel with lots of soap and napkins since there is no hope on Chinese trains for these luxuries. By the end of the train ride, the room was a slosh bucket of nastiness and I was just glad that I got there first!

Unfortunately by the time I am publishing this I am now an expert squatter and have seen much worse!