A letter from Sumatra: 1993-part VI

In Indonesia the bathroom situation is a fascinating one. A bathroom consists of an Asian toilet (an enamel hole with 2 foot plates) to squat down on, and a mandi (square tiled box, approximately 3ft*3ft, and filled with cold water) and a plastic scoop.

To take a dump you have to squat down, and when you’ve finished, get a scoop of water and clean your ass with your hand. Sounds pretty disgusting, but 99% of losmans, restaurants and houses in Indonesia don’t have toilet paper. The old hand / ass technique takes a while to get used to , so I was wonderding what the Mentawai use. I asked where do we take a shit and Anise told us we can take a shit anywhere, as long as its not near the house, or the river. Fortunately the vegatation in the jungle is thick, so there’s plenty of big leaves you can use.

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