lynnejoel1015

As it's now Sunday morning, mint tea.

I'm not very well traveled yet, so my strangest facilities were the toilets at a market in Rosarito, Mexico where you had to pay a dime to use them, they handed you *one square* of toliet paper (yep!!) and they were the darkest, dankest, smelliest bathrooms ever.

I held my breath, squatted, did what I needed to do with that one square, and ran out!

AnnMarie_C

xrae, that's exactly what we felt like--a bunch of kids running back and forth! And speaking of NASCAR, a few years ago we went to Talladega. After sitting in race traffic for hours on end we finally reached a field to park the car. Port-o-potties skirted the field and since we were all in need we dashed from the car so quickly no one noticed we had left the lights on. Hours later we returned to a dead battery...and lots of friendly racers willing to help!

AnnMarie_C

Ooops, racers should read race fans!

jacketwatch

I recently tried an Armenian brandy called Ararat. Very good! Better than some Cognacs I've had. As for "facilities" I recall this story. We were taking an overnight train from Ajmer (India) to Delhi. The train stopped early in the morning at a rural station near a village. I opened the blind and, well many of the villagers were in an adjacent open field taking their morning constitution. Quite a sight for the uninitiated.

CaliNurse

Satia, does an advertisement for "facilities" count? This past summer in Paris we saw European-type sidewalk billboards everywhere, advertising the stool softener Dulcolax. It was a photo of toilet paper with sign stuck in it, worded "Du travail!' (sort of--"this is work!") Only in a city which is as proud of its sewers as is Paris

AnneMarie, yourt story about the see-through facilities in Amsterdam reminds me of the famous see-through windows in the city's red light district!

GBelle

AuntAnnie - I think the city of Boston installed one of those self-flushing on-the-sidewalk toilets several years ago as a trial. Don't know if it's still there, though.

I've seen my share of hole-in-the ground facilities in China, Japan and Europe over the years.

Over the weekend, however, a cousin said she visited one of the Atlantic City casinos whose women's room featured over-the-top facilities. However, the black highly polished marble floors gave everyone a chance to "view" you and your neighbors if you looked sideways under the sidwalls while you were seated.

Tess

What a fun topic!!! Being blessed with a tiny bladder, I've learned not to be picky with my facilities. Worst one had to be by the Mayan ruins near Cozumel 14 years ago. One little room--no doors--for both males and females, hole in the ground, stick your feet over the 'painted feet' on the floor and really hope for 10 seconds of privacy. Have always remembered that place since my husband took a photo of me standing by the fertility goddess' throne. One month later, we found out that mini-Tess was on the way

Oh yeah, we LOVE Ron White. My 16 year old son thinks he's the funniest thing on tv right now. Anyone heard of John Pinett, a comedian who's been on Comedy Central? Our family heard him on a cruise last year and I've never laughed as hard in my life. Catch him if you can--he's hilarious.

No poison yet since it's a.m. Have two kids home sick today, though, so I may be dipping into my stash soon...

FainaAgain

JacketWatch, Armenian cognac is the best! In the former Soviet Union it was all exported to get foreign currency, none was allowed to sell to locals.

Kinch500

WOW! You guys have certainly experienced some strange facilities.

I am not that well traveled either but the strangest so far to me was the public restrooms in Pike Place Market. The doors are not really tall and I felt like a horse sticking my head over a stall. The door was so funny to me, I had the girls stick there head over and smile for a picture.

AnnMarie_C

LOL, Kinch! Your story reminded me of the time I used the kiddie facilities at the San Diego Zoo. The dividing walls were chest high--I felt more like a giraffe!

Fodorite018

Kinch--I know exactly those restrooms you mentioned! I am very short and even I could see out! I wonder who designed those???

jacketwatch

Faina Again: Good point. Do you know of any other brands?

FainaAgain

No, sorry, I don't.

jacketwatch

Thanks anyway. One good selection is better than none.

ronkala

When I as in the Navy, the destroyer I was on had three troughs in the aft head. Each trough was a three seater with one seat being painted red for those unfortuneate enough to pick up whatever while in port. There was a continuous flow of water and from time to time some joker would light a wad of paper and drop it in at the inflow end of the trough so it waould pass under whoever was sitting in the other two seats. While at sea, it wasn't the place to be sitting when the ship was taking 45 degre or more rolls and thewater would slosh out.
I was telling DW the tp story while touring the USS Kidd in Baton Rouge, and a nearby astonished tourist asked "You mean you really lived like this?"

JJ5

Wow, some of these are funny. Some aren't.

I've had strange facilities upon several occasions. The two I will never forget:

Off an IN turnpike, about mid-90's. I walked in and walked out. It was a gas station, and surfice to tell you that all the walls and floor were covered with projectile feces. That's the only way I could describe it. The place needed to be hosed out, period.

The other was in Italy at the marble quarries. It was a hole with hose attached to a wall. My guy was hysterical because guess where I got the traveler's revenge syndrome.

I also got trapped in a bathroom in Italy, Cinque Terre area, once. It was a hole as well. The door knob came off in my hand and was attached by a rod with no connectors. Until I figured out how to release the rod alone, I could not get out. It took me about 10 minutes. Afterwards the owner of the little cantina, told me that I "should have said something" because no one uses the bathroom there. Huh!

And in Chicago I have seen some real dicey bathrooms or non-bathrooms. Saw a girl hold her 3 year old child over a sink to pee at the Auditorium. Saw the circle group (just like the wagons)with girls' surrounding squatters, behind the poles at Wrigley a couple of times. Both of those places have no numbers of Women's facilities as they were made and used primarily for and by men in their primes.

No liquor, just coffee.

garyt22

For a real Third World experience, try the public men's room at the San Francisco Bus Station... all of the stall walls have been torn down exposing several open toilets... the homeless use this as there "freshen-up" station and are rather creative in their "technique les' excrement". The scene is a police line-up in a Fellini movie... I will never be the same...

indytravel

Wow. It seems like it's hard to let this one go. I guess potty stories go a long, long way.

Speaking of held over sinks and never being the same, it happened to me at Meramac Caverns in the mid 80's. You know the ones "See Rock City" and "See Meramec Caverns." The signs, bumper stickers, painted barns, billboards, they were everywhere.

I was visiting St Louis friends with friends. We decided to finally "see meramec caverns." We did the tour with the little Foucault pendulum at the beginnin, saw formations, did the whole bit. At the end we were looking at the huge, solid wall of stalactites that met the stalagmites.

A little girl near us about 3 told her Mommy she had to pee. Yeah, right as we were no where near a bathroom. As they projected a scratchy slide of Old Glory on the wall, the little girl was getting insistent she had to go. A similarly scratchy recording of Kate Smith started belting out "God Bless America."

The little girl really had to go. Her Mom picked her up and hung her butt over the chasm behind us. As it was dark she couldn't see where she was. That's the only way she could have relaxed enough to go hanging over a 100 ft chasm.

I will never, ever be the same again.