The Best Toilet In Malaysia
Terrible toilets are a travel fact of life.
Stinky, squatty, wet and mosquito-infested. You learn to get in and get out as fast as you can. You learn to ignore the wetness slapping at your ankles or knees after a pee break, the whiff of urine on other travelers. You expand your lung capacity holding your breath in dark shit-stinky cubicles. You always have a little pack of tissues in your pocket, even if you can’t work out how to flush a tissue down a squatter.
Travel toilets can be pits of misery. When they’re not, it’s time to rejoice!
And so, fellow travellers, I give you what may be the best toilets in Malaysia, possibly the best toilets in Southeast Asia. (Outside of fancy five-star hotels of course.)
Discovered a good two and a half hour drive (a scenic drive, with photo stops) from our two star guesthouse on Langkawi. At the base of the Langkawi Cable Car that hauls you up to the top of Gunung Machinchang.
Clean.
Even the squatter. (And for those of you who haven’t encountered a squat toilet before… Behold – a clean one! Cleaner than the squatter in my work toilets in Singapore.)
A lovely clean squat toilet in Asia
Soap!
And the piece de resistance, the feature that makes it the best toilet in Southeast Asia – a garden! (The skylight makes it seem even more fantastic, too!) Darling Man says there was no garden feature in the men’s. Doubly good!
Toilet garden with water feature
It was such an exciting find I had to take photos and share them before I shared the view from the top of the cable car.
Oh yes, and there was toilet paper, too. Just in case you wondered.
12 years ago
By: Barbara
A career girl who dropped out, traveled, found love, and never got around to going home again. Now wrangling a cross-cultural relationship and two third culture kids.
Nicely done and can’t blame you for being excited. Those shots show pristine environments – not rare, but definitely not your everyday experience.
Maria recently posted..Wheels Down – Part II
I saw the garden first, then made the happy discovery of CLEAN. I didn’t want to leave!
omg – this post TOTALLY made me proud! I take pictures of bathrooms after arriving in Delhi two years ago. People think I’m strange when they look at my photo albums, but it is SO true — when you see a clean one, you LITERALLY rejoice!!!
Soap? AND a water feature? Oh heavens!!
I am also keen on taking photos of airport bathrooms as some REALLY fail …
My favorites are the ones that have stepstools for the kids and little seats that fold down in the stalls so your little one can perch while you pee.
I almost want to dig through my archives to find those photos to post …
GREAT ONE!
naomi recently posted..SMS SPAM, WORK IN PROGRESS and A CAUTION
Toilets are important. Taking photos of them is perfectly normal. 🙂
Wooow, lucky you getting such fab toilets. When travelling in Turkey, it used to be exactly as you said in your first two sentences but I’m happy to report things have improved – although you’re handed ONE serviette (rather then loo roll) on the way in by a (usually) rather large, angry-looking female toilet attendant. I’ve never dared ask for more! 🙂
Julia
Turkey’s For Life recently posted..The All-Seeing Eye On Rhodes
Oh, the one-serve loo paper. In Southeast Asia, that usually only happens at the toilets you have to pay for. And I get quite pissed off (pardon the pun) when I have to pay for the privilege of using a dirty stinky toilet.
WOW! that’s a gorgeous bathroom – i can’t believe the garden. good thing you documented it.
wandering educators recently posted..Travelogue: Singapore
Wow, where is this magical toilet? It’s so… so…. clean!!
Kelly recently posted..Stick It to Me: A Guide to Travel Vaccinations
It’s on Langkawi. Not quite worth making the trip there for the toilet.
Central America had some of the worst toilets. If you do not travel a lot, you have no idea how incredible it is to find a good toilet. I just learned to hold it as long as possible to minimize bathroom trips while on the road. Probably not healthy, but at least I spent less time in the disgusting, stinky bathrooms.
Stephanie – The Travel Chica recently posted..Screw You And Your Cubierto
Wow, a garden? That might be the best toilet in many other parts of the world too. I am always surprised when you find a good one in a place you don’t expect to have such stellar facilities.
Suzy recently posted..Taormina, Sicily Wishes You Were Here
Yes, it was such a surprise. A good surprise, which is not usually the surprise you find in a toilet.
It’s always a joy to open the stall and face a spic and span throne! That garden is fantastic too, I always like some potted plants of full gardens in a bathroom – it makes for a more relaxing experience. Great toilet find.
I just wrote a post and scheduled it to publish soon on my site about how to use a squat pot – coming soon!
Mark Wiens recently posted..Zanzibar Video Guide – Street Food, Stone Town, and Beaches
Looking forward to your post, Mark. Cos I definitely haven’t mastered the squatter.
Is it pathetic that after coming home from SE Asia 6 months ago I’m still insanely jealous of this bathroom! Our new house has a black toilet, which our friends call the abyss. Love the garden idea, I wonder if I can make that in my tiny bathroom here at home!
Jillian recently posted..Photo: Golden Tumi
Not pathetic at all! I love plants in the bathroom, too.
It’s sparkling! I’ve only been to one toilet in Malaysia (only popped in from Singapore) and it was a shocker
Andrea recently posted..Ireland’s Beer Beyond Guinness
I was kinda’ expecting dirty toilet despite of the post title 🙂 and I can not explain why. Most likely because I (as so many other people) am prejudiced. It is nice to see this clean and tidy toilet!
Anna recently posted..Bad breath? I give you some “home-made” solutions.
i’ve had a few run-ind with bad travel toilets. it really does ruin the occasion of purging. the worst one i encountered was in the philippines — in my own aunt’s house! it sucked, but that’s what they’re used to so it wasn’t an issue for them. me and my siblings on the other hand had a hard time coming to grips with it.
Mack Reynolds recently posted..Have you voted? The Pix & Flix Contest ends tomorrow
Hi! Glad to know that I’m the only traveler who takes toilet shots 😀 Btw, I’m a Malaysian and I’m relieved that you got a clean toilet, hand soap AND toilet paper.
The government ran a campaign a few years ago – guess it’s worked. I just hope that they’ll keep up the good work!
I. Despise. Squatties.
They make me anxious and worried about whether I am going to contract a disease. Haha. I also feel unladylike. Which of course, is funny, because I am the only one around to observe any “Unladylikeness.”
The mark of a good toilet for me is when there is actual toilet paper present!
Claire recently posted..My 7 Links: I’m One of the Cool Kids Now
haha..I’ve actually felt pretty reluctant to use public toilets in Malaysia apart if its a paid one or is based in some fancy mega malls around the country!
So funny! And I agree on all of it! There is a great one at the piers leading to the Perhentian Islands as well in Malaysia. Since we are headed to Langkawi I will have to get in that bathroom and let you know if it’s still so wonderful:)
Mary recently posted..Is It best To Take Your Own Car Seats When Travelling?
I hope it is still wonderful Mary! And I hope you have a fabulous time in Langkawi. Will you try parasailing?