How do I use an Indonesian toilet? Indo-loo culture Part
II
For those hygiene freaks amongst you (what the hell are
you doing in Indonesia, anyway??), you had better steer clear
of the traditional squat toilet – you may faint for
the lack of hot water… Hot H2O is a luxury in Indo-loos;
in fact, I’ve never ever come across a squat loo with
hot water to wash your hands with. And as hygiene is not a
strong point in most Indo-loos, there may not be any soap
for you to wash your hands with. At one stage, I thought that
the round stones that are left around the ledges of the inside
of a toilet were used for cleaning the ‘poo finger’
after you’ve done your business, but now I know better:
they are for removing dry skin and calluses from your feet!
Not all Indo-loos are of the squat variety, you’ll be
relieved (no pun intended) to know. The more modern ones will
have a Western style bowl, with or without a seat, depending
on whether the people who use it prefer to squat on the bowl
or just sit as we spoilt Westerners do. This may have a ‘flusher’,
or you may simply have to flush copious amounts of water down
the hole manually. Attached to the tap on the cistern, you
may find a hose with a spray gun on the end that more modern
Indonesians use as a bidet.
In terms of Indonesian public toilets, expect the worst –
I certainly can’t see self-cleaning toilets, changing
stations or automatic taps arriving on the scene any time
soon; they’re still sorting out basic plumbing in this
part of the world. And for all the low standards, in many
places (think the beaches, the bemo stations and the Arts
Center) you have to pay 500 rupiah for a ‘number one’
and 1000 rupiah for a ‘number two’. Perhaps one
day, enough money will be gathered together to pay for a scrubbing
brush and a bit of Toilet Duck!
