Unusual and interesting toilets from all around the world.

Toilets of the World

Toilets of world leaders, artists, and authors: The Ottoman Sultan Woodrow Wilson Leon Trotsky Winston Churchill Adolf Hitler Dwight Eisenhower Robert Kennedy William Shakespeare Edgar Allan Poe Vincent Van Gogh Jim Morrison Lady Gaga

Wipe or Wash?
Paper or Water?

"Squat or sit?" is probably the biggest toilet question for international travelers, especially for Americans. That may be the case partly because Americans don't even know that they need to also ask this question: What do the locals use to clean themselves, and therefore what will they provide for me: Toilet paper or water?

Imagine that you are an American traveling overseas.

You check into a hotel, only to discover that you don't have a shower or tub in your room. Nor is there one down the hallway.

Quickly, you go back downstairs to the front desk.

You inquire at the front desk about where you should take a shower, and the desk clerk is horrified that you would want to do such a thing.

You are told that what you should do is rub dry paper all over your body. That is the very best way of getting clean. Spraying water on your body would be a dirty practice! Don't behave that way in our hotel!

OK, now you know how everyone else feels when they hear an American say that toilet paper is extremely clean but using water is a filthy practice.

Read more about cleaning yourself with toilet paper and water »

Today's Featured Toilet
Inter-city buses are not really the best setting for a mobile toilet. This example is from the U.S. Greyhound line.

U.S. buses are not very nice ways to travel. The Greyhound line in particular seems to have a market whose brand loyalty is based on fond memories of rides home from prison. Megabus provides much nicer rides avoiding the Greyhound stations, which often are the worst places in cities. But their on-board toilets are almost identical.

National Express, Citylink, and other U.K. intercity lines have much nicer on-board toilets.
Check back tomorrow for another featured toilet!
Who is the Toilet Guru?
Bob Cromwell seated on the ancient public toilets in Ephesus.

Who is the Toilet Guru? Is he obsessed? What is it like to be the Toilet Guru? Why does this site exist?

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Let's visit the toilets!