THE WORST OF ALL: Well... I wasn't traveling at that time but it was when I went to do number two at work and the flash was broken and there was a bunch of people outside waiting to use it after me.
The other one : on an overnight train from Tangier to Marrakech...there was poo all over the place.

I just love the Google ads that pop up when I click on this thread.

Jet

All the bad ones, I've forgotten. Only way to stay sane.

Once in a port in Gujarat in India, my 9-year-old daughter had to use the toilet. Not a one in sight so we had to ask the crew of a fishing boat to borrow theirs. Expecting the worst (a boat full of men, after all )):, it was a squat toilet, but in pink porcelain and just amazingly clean.

And another amazing toilet we discovered by accident, is the public loo in Kawakawa, New Zealand, designed by Friedrich Hundertwasser. Have a look.

WORST:

I remember stopping during my felucca trip along the Nile in Egypt at a temple. There was a little hut with a man standing outside. People kept handing him money, then he went in, did something, came out, and then the tourist would go in. Turns out, you had to baksheesh the guy to flush away the remnants of the previous person. Needless to say, he didn't do a very good job. This was preferable to the other option on the felucca... if you were caught having to go while the boat was sailing, you were handed a rope and told to hop in!

Another baddie was in some temple in Tibet. Rather than using any tissues or TP to wipe their hands after wiping themselves, people would "paint" on the walls.

PC

P.S. Has anyone ever seen the infamous toilet in Llasa that there is a story about in the Lonely Plant? Supposedly someone fell into a well of liquid poo?

The summit trail on Mount Kinabalu had the worst toilets not helped by the fact I had eaten something that disagreed with me the day before|

Worst: CHINA. It was a shed at the side of the road, filled with human excrement, with slime-covered stepping stones so you could walk around. You pick a spot and poo. I decided to hold it in.

Best: JAPAN. Top floor of a shopping center, with a high tech toilet that would bathe your anus with warm water and then dry it, and the washing device would then be retracted and automatically sterilized.

worst: Having my last imodium wear off 8 hours into a 9 hour bus trip across thailand.
spent the last hour clenching like i'd never clenched before!
Shoved my way off the bus the second it drew to a halt, shoving children and old ladies out the way as i bolted into nearest building. Toilet turned out to be down an alley way round the back, about 2 blocks away and was a tin shed with wooden planks and a hole cut in the middle.
I'm used to squat toilets, but this was a whole new level, i was terrified the planks would break under my (heavier then your average thai-) weight!

Best: loos at the wunderbar in lyttleton, NZ. not the poshest loos, but walls are plastered top to toe with old magazine ads, hours of quality reading!

Oooh, memories.

The open field outside of Mandalay, Burma, that served as a bus depot. I was sitting in a nearby shopfront that served as a teastall, when my stomach pitched a fit from the samosas I'd had for lunch. Dashed into the dank and fetid closet that served as a toilet. No electricity of course, so I squatted and aimed as best as I could. After a few seconds, some darkish lump scampered across one of my feet (I was wearing Tevas). It felt like it had claws, so I assumed it was a rat. Started, I kicked out. Since my pants were around my knees, I lost my balance, and toppled over onto my back ... into the squat. I stood up, my entire backside utterly befouled.

The remaining twenty minutes before the bus to Nyaung U (Bagan) left I spent taking a shower with bottled water and bar soap. The shirt was a total loss, the ride to Nyaung U utter misery.

Gardkarlsen -- I've used that same squatter when i climbed Kilamanjaro and as nasty as that was, it still was not the worst I've ever used.

Worst-- I was in Freiberg, Germany and some friends and I had just eaten some pretty nasty greasy food. After that we wnet to this grungy college bar there--really grungy (my friend really wanted to go there because he had been there once before 5 years earlier and had the whole nostalgia thing working). On the way there, in the tram, my stomach started to grumble and churn. Oh yea, I was brewing! By the time we got to this grungy bar I had to really let loose. In the bar itself, you wouldn't touch anything--really gross. I asked for the bathroom immediately and then ran there, though not that fast so as not to let loose prematurely. I arrived at the bathroom and was mortified at what i saw. If you've ever seen the Quentin Tarantino movie Desperado with Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek, you would know what i was dealing with as the toilet in that bar was identical (though the toilet I dealt with was dark). This toilet (no seat) was completely covered in crap. The floor was covered in crap. The walls were covered in crap. The ceiling even had crap on it. You would not believe this sight was even possible without having it decorated this way. Oh, and toilet paper--forget about it!!! This place was the unholy of unholies. Being that I was about to explode...i had no choice i had to go. Upon finishing and knowing that no toilet paper existed, I had no choice but to literally rip my boxers off and use them to clean myself. I was not about to take off my pants and risk touching the ground with anything other than the bottom of my shoes.

That, was my worst toilet experience EVER!!!!!!

Learning how to hover over, what we dubbed, "The Squatters", in Korea became quite an art form. But my talent was truly tested during a train trip: as the train rocks gently back forth, picture trying to hover over an elevated "squatter" in a moving train, especially after enjoying the local drink....

Trekker

Travelling and toilets don't necessary influence each other. Public restrooms are gross ANYWHERE in the world. I've travelled around in many European countries, and without a single exception all had filthy toilets. Sometimes in sport stadiums and pubs, I wonder if they ever clean them.

Two days ago I saw Tool live in The Point, Dublin. The toilet floor was completely flooded (I tried to push away the thought that that water may come out of one of the toilets!) and on the floor floated some pieces of wood as if the ceiling had come down as well... Terrible. And that was BEFORE the concert and before everyone was drunk!

Also, I've visited sports stadiums all over Europe, and in several of them the toilets had no lights so you had to just aim in the dark. A few had toilets which weren't cleaned or flushed in weeks... One of the stadiums I've seen had toilets overflowing and the whole ground was wet.

I am so fed up with filthy toilets that I do use the ladies room whenever the men's room is filthy. And I can assure I've never ever had a look through the key hole or over the toilet walls or so, I never behaved badly in a ladies' room. The only occasions when I use the women's toilets is when the men's toilets are really all filthy, which unfortunately happens regularly. I think it's the pub staff's reponsability to keep the toilets clean for their customers, if they fail to do keep the men's room clean, then they shouldn't complain about me going to the clean restroom. If I pay for consumptions in a restaurant or pub, I expect a clean toilet to be included in the service.

Also, the most scary experience I ever had in a toilet, was in Spain: I entered the toilet cabin and switched on the light, and -seriously- saw at least 10 seriously big spiders spread across the cabin. I ran out of that cabin and ran back to the hotel room further down the village and used the toilet hotel. The spiders were all over the toilet cabin - how the heck is that possible?!

This thread, hands down, is the funniest thread I have ever read, on BootsnAll or otherwise. It doesn't speak well of my maturity level, I know, but I could not stop laughing. I don't think you guys know how funny you guys are. That said, this is one thread I hope I don't contribute to in the future.

I know this one is great, but this one is pretty good too. I have rarely laughed so hard about tampax, and the female plumbing.

Jet

My Japanese toilet experience:

http://everything-everywhere.com/2007/11/20/adventures-...d-of-the-rising-bun/

Worst one: Goa, Palolem beach 2003, where couple of pigs chewed right away on what you blessed them with from above. Not bad on it self if you think the Green, recycling way. A bit worse though when you've seen right after grilled pork sausages on the menu.

Best one: Whenever I "have to go" and don't waste the time with cold sweating and crossed legs while trying to keep a cool face on...