India changed my life, what about yours?

This intercultural blog is aimed to be a point of convergence between new and old India travelers, it will allow the new comers to have real experiences available in order to enrich their expectations and make their own contributions. Not only foreign travelers will write and post their pictures, but also will involve the local´s point of view. We have invited a bunch of Indians to collaborate and omment on the travelers’ anecdotes.based on history and cultural background.

Let´s talk about toiletes


Well… you probably do not want to listen this, but as this blog was created by me and a very good friend, I will take the liberty to speak about some “unspeakable topics”… to start the sequel let´s talk about toilets :-)


It was probably the first shocking experience when first arriving, after a very long flight my friends and I went to the hotel and immediately run to the bathroom , it was our surprise when noticing Indian toilets were not what we were used to; ¡who the hell knows how this thing work! We started asking amongst ourselves; where is the toilet paper? What is this mug for? And the bucket, what do I do with it?


If you come from a western country you probably have also asked these questions, wet & slippery floors and lack of paper… what a complication… but only at first.


Yes, I have to admit it was quite shocking when first seeing it, even worse when I got sick and had to go to the toilet more often that normal, and having to spend more time there than normally do and my legs started to numb…; but after a few days I turned into an expert J and finally recognized that “hygienically” speaking, squat toilets were healthier than sit down ones as you do not have any contact with it… but I will never forgive the lack of toilet paper.


When I first went to India in 1999, me and my group of friends started collecting toilet paper, tissues, napkins and all kind of “butt friendly” papers, and at the end of the trip, a roll of toilet paper was more valuable than our own weights in gold!!! For the second trip in 2004, we were prepared, and took infinite rolls with us, we couldn´t afford the emotional stress again.


(the picture is not mine, I took it from Jesse A. Todhunter)


.-Chica Ruffinelli

10:01 PM | Etiquetas: |

 

4 comentarios:

Amit said...

There is nothing good a bad. Its just another style of toilets. With regards to toilet paper - no comments :)
Usually we have the western styled toilets in most homes with the changing times and I think this one will become out fashioned in a decade or so.

May 30, 2009 at 9:17 AM  
Jaikar M said...

Yeah.. This is another style as such.. Neither good nor bad in comparison to the Western style toilets..

However, things are changing. These days most homes do have the Western styled toilets. This also extends to most hotels and also the restrooms at most popular tourist spots. As with toilet papers, well its not an issue at all anymore. If you are traveling extensively, you might want to keep a few rolls as a backup. But otherwise it shouldnt be a problem at all.

June 1, 2009 at 2:17 PM  
Anonymous said...

Like Jaikar said.. most homes as well as places outside have western style toilets.
In fact, many Indians don't use this style at all and in most restrooms there should not be a problem....
toilet paper is advisable to carry a few rolls, though it shouldn't be a problem at many homes and so on..

June 2, 2009 at 10:12 AM  
Vasuda said...

I still laugh thinking about Andre Reichel's near-traumatic experience when he used a toilet that didn't have toilet paper :D

June 8, 2009 at 5:25 AM  

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