Using the toilet

[mendeleyev]

It has been my experience that this topic resonates well with readers, but it one of those subjects new travelers are rarely brave enough to ask about.

Often information on this topic is piss-poor, so to enlighten readers we will dump a load of information on this subject here.

On the toilet shown below, you flush by pressing down on the button on the lid. There are two options: a smaller button inside the ring is for smaller outcomes. The larger is for larger projects. Or just press both to make sure that the whole package gets shipped.

In some areas, you'll see signs noting that used tissue goes into a nearby trash container. That is common in areas where plumbing or septic systems are weak.

[mendeleyev]

In another thread regarding Sochi, the subject of toilets was flushed out for readers to sit and ponder.

The average cost of a toilet in Moscow is 30 Rubles, about 46 cents (USD) at current exchange rates. When you understand that you can purchase a 4-roll package of toilet tissue for between 80 and 120 rubles (depending on quality), you can see the advantage of carrying some in your pocket to supplement the small swatch that the toilet cashier gives upon payment.

Do you pay at all toilets?

No, when disembarking from your plane at just about any modern Russian or Ukrainian airport, there are free toilets as you walk towards the passport control and baggage customs area. That is a great time to get a load off your mind because those ques are going to be long and slow. You have time to stop and sort things out after a long flight.

Some of the best free toilets are in large shopping centres. As a general rule, look for shopping centers with modern supermarkets, and/or American fast food. If there is a KFC, McDonald's, Burger King, Papa Johns Pizza, Pizza Hut, Subway, Domino's Pizza, etc, you are safe to assume that the toilets will be clean and free of charge to use in 99% of the time.

Smaller centres and areas around Metro and train stations are going to be more challenging. In addition to paying 30 rubles, usually there is a lady inside the men's area cleaning. No, she isn't an Obama transgender and Bruce Jennerette has not moved to Russia--the attendant is working and typically at her age couldn't care less about peeping at your equipment. Her work stinks, is dirty, and she just wants the room to pass inspection for her superiors so just pretend that she isn't in the room. It is normal.

Your best friend are those little Kleenex styled tissue packs that fit in a pocket. Unless it is outside in a "free standing" toilet, there will be soap and water to wash your hands. That being said, your second best friend is a pocket sized packet of hand wipes for the less developed encounters.

A train, unless it is a new and modern wagon, is not a good place to do your business. If you wake up to discover that the train attendant has locked down the toilets because you are approaching a scheduled stop in 30 minutes, you will have to hold it--or pee in your nice Russian Railways souvenir tea cup. Like Chicago voting, go early and often.

The first photo below is from a truck stop outside of Tver. Next to the urinals is a cold water outlet for truckers to refill their thermos containers.

The second photo shows very clean urinals inside SVO airport.

[mendeleyev]

In the 80s-90s-early 2000s it was common to step into a toilet and find no seat. Even in the best museums, theatres, etc, the seats were removed. That is because they were often stolen. It was not prudent for a museum to stall new toilet seats every morning.

One of the causes for the stolen seats was that most folk lived in communal apartments in that period. Communally, 2-3 families each were allotted a single room (bedroom that doubled as a living room), and they shared the entry hallway, the kitchen, and the bathroom. It was common for each family to have their own toilet seat--painted in a colour different from the others. Were you to step inside the toilet, you'd have seen 2-3 toilet seats hanging on a wall, each of a different colour, and you'd ask your host which colour of toilet seat belonged to his family.

That created a constipated built-up demand for toilet seats--and a great way to bring one home for free was to visit a public or government building. Ten minutes later you strolled out onto the street and headed for the nearest Metro station--with a toilet seat tucked underneath your overcoat. All you needed was some paint.

Toilet tissue was fair game, too. McDonald's introduced free toilets (in public areas other than government buildings) to Russia, and immediately there was a run on tissue. If you needed some, you'd walk in the door and ask for directions to the toilet. McDonald's quickly realized that they needed to install those large and seemingly endless rolls inside plastic casing units that made it difficult to see how much was there--and equally difficult to roll enough out at once in order to stock up for the ride home.

Today, Russians have learned that the free, and most clean toilets, are usually at American fast food outlets. Other restaurant chains, such as My-My, and others have caught up with the trend.

Not far from Victory Park (Park Pobedy) there is the really cool "Jazz Cafe" and below is their very nice public toilet.

The cafeteria style restaurant My-My (spoken as "Moo Moo") is another safe place for very clean, and free, toilets. There are My-My locations all over Moscow.

[mendeleyev]

When British Petroleum entered the Russian marketplace, they turned the Russian "gas station" concept on its head. Formerly, gas attendants were surly, cashiers were rude, and most transactions took place thru a glass window. The only "toilet" was a clump of bushes out back, well if there were bushes.

Today, the nickname "BP" has become code for clean toilets. It is not unusual for someone in a car to say (in English), "pee-pee at BP!" Advertising works.

When you drive up to a BP station you are greeted by a friendly guy who will pump your gas as soon as you go inside to pay and the cashier activates the pump at your car. Meanwhile you go over to the unisex toilets, typically there are 2-3 in use, and wait for one to open. It is free, and most of the time they are clean.

Before you return to the car you can make purchases from the convenience shelves--everything from bottled water to candy to antifreeze--and even step over to the "Wild Bean" coffee bar. The cafe offers pastries and sandwiches, but as long as you purchase some coffee or tea, you can bring in food from your car and relax while eating at a Wild Bean table. Just remember to park away from the gas pumps before sitting down for lunch.

Russian owned gas stations are converting their facilities to cash in on the popularity of BP.

No company has changed the way Russian business is conducted like McDonalds. They were first in many areas in bringing a new level of service to the Russian mindset.

(As an aside, you are wasting your money at Starbucks in Russia. The best coffees are in places like Coffee House, Wild Bean, and Mckey D's. Of course, coffee is a diuretic...)

[calmissile]

Good summary Mendy.  A couple of points to add.....   On most of the railcars there is no toilet paper or towels.  A fresh roll of toilet paper lasts about 30 minutes before it is gone.  With only a few people using the toilet during that period, it is pretty easy to figure out what happened to it.  Like Mendy suggests, always have TP and moist wipes with you.

You barely scratched the surface on what became the most significant toilet experiences I had in Ukraine.  Once you leave the big cities and get into the rural area and villages, you will find a huge difference in toilet facilities.  Imagine yourself casually browsing through an outdoor market and all of sudden nature calls for #2.  As you approach the restroom you can smell the urine for 1/2 block away.  If you are able to enter without gagging, you discover several holes in the floor and no doors on any stalls (if you can call them that).  There is no porcelain toilet, but sometimes a porcelain fitting in the floor to aim at.  In some of the most discusting cases, it was clear that no attempt was made to hit the hole anyway.

This puts you at a distinct disadvantage of trying to place your feet at a dry spot while squatting and not making contact with the pile that the last user left.  It is quite a challenge to be able to squat for several minutes with nothing to hang onto.  Not to mention the skill required to get the toilet paper out of you pocket and wiping your ass while still maintaining your balance in the squatting position.  One of the little tricks I learned early was to first find the nicest restaurant in the area and go for a cup of coffee or a beer in order to use their relatively clean restroom.

My most memorable experience was in Primorsk, a little villiage on the Sea of Azov.  My girlfriend owned a small stand at an ourdoor market.  One time when visiting her at work I had to pee so bad I thought I was going to explode.  She pointed me to the restroom.  I tried 3 times to enter and could not keep from gagging from the heavy smell of urine.  She must have been watching  because she came over laughing and told me to follow her around the corner.  Among some construction materials, she kept guard while I took the best piss of my life!

It only takes one trip out of the city to learn all the needed lessons about toilet issues in UA.  It is a good idea however, for newbies to be forwarned and prepared for the environment.

Lastly, when visiting friends in rural UA you are likely to find that most older homes do not have toilets.  They have outhouses just like rural America did many years ago.

[mendeleyev]

Doug, you beat me to it! Well said, and what you've described has undoubtedly been the experience of many of our more experienced travelers. When traveling outside of major cities, whether by car or train, an extra roll of tissue is a "must" for the trip!

They are being phased out, but the older train wagons had toilets that emptied onto the tracks below. You could literally press the flush button and see the tracks race by as the toilet was emptied onto the ground. That was one of the reasons why train attendants would lock the toilets when the train was about 30 minutes from an approaching stop.

In rural areas, as one can also find in the West, wells provide water for homes and toilets are of the outdoor variety.

In the house photo, the "A" shaped structure with new looking materials near the back door is the outdoor toilet. Next to it is another wooden structure with a metal tub on top. That is a "Banya" or a wood-fired steam bathhouse. In a setting like this, not only it is a place for steaming relaxation, it is where families bathe to be clean, too.

[mendeleyev]

You can find dirty toilets in any nations of the world. You can find modern and clean toilets in any nation of the world.

Sometimes, especially in areas where Muslim customs are more common, you'll find traditional squatting style toilets. Supposedly, they are more "natural" for the body, but in the West we don't find them so often. In some parts of Moscow where immigrants from the "Stans" work and live, these types of toilets are common.

In photo 2 you can see the Russian word for "toilets" (plural) in the Cyrillic alphabet at SVO airport. Photo 3 shows a very modern air hand dryer made in the UK by Dyson.

[BC]

Great topic Mendy!  Something actually useful for a change.

One of the neatest tips I learned here at RWD is when using shelf or slider type toilets lay down a layer of TP first for major projects..  That way you don't have to touch that nasty brush if there is even one there. 

Before your plane lands you can swipe a few toilet seat covers.  They fold up nicely and you can use the center doughnut hole part for the shelf/slider or even emergency TP.  Or you can buy them before the trip http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002ZZB6LU/  disposable shoe covers might be an idea for really crappy or squat type toilets.  http://www.amazon.com/uxcell-Resistant-Disposable-Plastic-Covers/dp/B0076V393Q/

I found that Turkey has the best system.. a little water spout directed upwards in the back of the toilet that will give your delicate area a pleasant mini shower.  Great for spicy food fans and refreshing for those with hemorrhoid problems. Luxury hotels like the Ritz have adjustable hot and cold water.

US fishbowl toilets are a hassle with unsanitary up-drops after plops that are amazingly accurate and having to hold your junk up to keep from dangling among the floaters.  Any good tips for my upcoming US trip?

Don't laugh at FSU guys and their little purses..  They are a good place to stash all the necessities that don't fit well in pockets or wallets along with your electronics.

[mendeleyev]

BC, after being married for so long, one just gets comfortable with certain things. On our Sochi trip the lovely and talented Mrs. Mendeleyeva desired to visit a toilet. I held her purse and then decided that while waiting I should also take advantage of the free facilities. I headed into the men's room--still carrying her purse.

Frankly, it matched my shoes perfectly! I snapped a photo before exiting. Then, she regained possession of the purse and I lost any sense of style.

[Gator]

Russian toilets are not so bad.  Some cultures do not use paper, particularly the Middle East.  Although I felt like I had a clean popka, the hands troubled me.  And touching the door knob on the way out.  I waited at the door until someone else opened it. 

What I found most lacking about Russian toilets is they are lacking in number.  Traveling in the countryside with a FSUW who consumed a lot of tea, and you will discover they are not shy.  A couple of them did a Number 1 on the road to avoid the tickling weeds. 

[Gator]

I found that Turkey has the best system.. a little water spout directed upwards in the back of the toilet that will give your delicate area a pleasant mini shower.  Great for spicy food fans and refreshing for those with hemorrhoid problems. Luxury hotels like the Ritz have adjustable hot and cold water.

It is called a bidet. 

Turkey is the crossroads to the Middle East.  I imagine away form the modern cities many of the toilets did not have a pressured spout and instead had only a water pitcher sitting near the "starting blocks" (and no paper).

[BC]

It is called a bidet. 

Turkey is the crossroads to the Middle East.  I imagine away form the modern cities many of the toilets did not have a pressured spout and instead had only a water pitcher sitting near the "starting blocks" (and no paper).

Yeah sorta like a built-in bidet.  We have separate bidets, quite nice n fresh leaving.

Seems stones and water was what worked back then in the Muslim world.. Stones having been replaced with TP but the water is still needed.  the Romans IIRC used sponges on sticks and water.

[mhr7]

Yeah sorta like a built-in bidet.  We have separate bidets, quite nice n fresh leaving.

Seems stones and water was what worked back then in the Muslim world.. Stones having been replaced with TP but the water is still needed.  the Romans IIRC used sponges on sticks and water.

When I lived in Turkey most apartments had both kinds of toilets. They called them the Turka and the Franca if I remember correctly.

[mendeleyev]

Another change in former FSU toilets is the tissue paper. Some of you recall the "sandpaper" styled tissue of former years. Travelers to the CCCP and immediate years after the fall of communism had good reason to pack toilet tissue in their suitcases when traveling to the region.

Back in those days, tissue was generally sold in single rolls and it was not uncommon to see someone walking home from the market with several rolls dangling either at the end of a stick, or by a strand of rope. That was especially true in times of shortages--if you found it--you grabbed as much as allowed.

Today you can walk into any market, small or large, and find toilet tissue that is light years ahead of those products in the past. Many Western brands are sold in FSU supermarkets today.

[mendeleyev]

For new travelers, don't be surprised to see a washing machine that is much smaller than what you have at home. This is true to laundry machines all over Eastern Europe and Asia. It is necessary to conserve water, and conserve space in those typically small apartment flats and homes.

Usually the washing machine is in the bathroom or kitchen. That is for convenient access to water and plumbing drains. Remember than washing machines are a "new" feature to many FSU homes and they were not plumbed at construction for things like laundry washers and even for dishwashers. So, they are added where there is already access to plumbing. Most FSU homes do not have room for electric or gas dryers. Those are still rare.

In our first apartment when married, the small washing machine sat in a hall space between the bathroom and kitchen--that was the only place it fit. We paid extra for plumbing to be run underneath the floor. It was either that or continue to wash clothes by hand in the bathtub.

Today we have a nice multi story home outside of Moscow with a very nice kitchen. However, it was not plumbed for a dishwasher and so that unit sits in a very large main floor bathroom across the hall.

New visitors will also be surprised to see the bathroom and toilet (often two small and separate rooms) located immediately adjacent to the kitchen in most apartments. That would be a sanitary code violation in most Western nations, but in Soviet times they were co-located for ease in shared plumbing and electrical. It was faster to construct and used fewer plumbing materials.

As to shared electrical, very often you'll find a single electric connection for these three rooms in the hall area. Several knobs on one switch allows one to control the kitchen, bathroom and toilet light from one panel. That again points to the Soviet style of construction.

[BC]

Back in those days, tissue was generally sold in single rolls and it was not uncommon to see someone walking home from the market with several rolls dangling either at the end of a stick, or by a strand of rope. That was especially true in times of shortages--if you found it--you grabbed as much as allowed.

In some FSU toilets a decade ago I recall ripped up newspaper hanging on a string.

One of the anecdotal jokes back when the GDR (East Germany) dissolved was when Ossies (East Germans) first went to western grocery stores and saw large rolls of paper towels that did not exist in the East.. "Oh my.. what big asses they must have here in the West!! "

[deccie]

You can find dirty toilets in any nations of the world. You can find modern and clean toilets in any nation of the world.

Sometimes, especially in areas where Muslim customs are more common, you'll find traditional squatting style toilets. Supposedly, they are more "natural" for the body, but in the West we don't find them so often. In some parts of Moscow where immigrants from the "Stans" work and live, these types of toilets are common.

In photo 2 you can see the Russian word for "toilets" (plural) in the Cyrillic alphabet at SVO airport. Photo 3 shows a very modern air hand dryer made in the UK by Dyson.

Those arabic toilets are quite horrible. What I hated most of all was seeing the little Indian guy mopping them all the time but with water that was absolutely black with dirt and other stuff...   They use so much water that the wooden door framing often goes mouldy and rots.

[Turboguy]

Well if you want to go in style this beauty was in the Nazi headquarters in Yekaterinburg.   No wonder the Germans lost the war.

[Gator]

Please no one show photos from India and their lack of toilets, open defecation, watch your step places, etc.

[SANDRO43]

For the history-minded :

Toilets: http://www.localhistories.org/toilettime.html

Toilet paper: