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Tags: Travel Snapshot / Toiletries / Bathrooms / Vending Machines / → All Tags

Look What We Found in The Airport Bathroom for Diez Pesos

Yesterday we were making our way out of Guadalajara and decided to hit up the bathrooms at the airport right before boarding our plane. Having just finished some enchiladas at the Wings restaurant (we passed on the Chili's chain), our breath was feeling less than fresh which is why we were pleased to see this vending machine inside the ladies bathroom.

For diez pesos, which is something like 75 cents, you can buy a Brushito, an "On the Go" toothbrush set complete with a fold-up toothbrush, a flosser and a mini, mini-tube of toothpaste. (If Barbie bought Costco-sized toothpaste, it would look like this.) And it even comes in little plastic balls, like the ones you used to lust after as a kid. You know, at the grocery store where, for 25 cents you'd get one of these plastic balls that held either a spider ring or a wash-off mermaid tattoo.

Even though we had packed a toothbrush and toothpaste in our carry-on, we couldn't resist buying our very own toothbrush ball, despite the unfortunate name of Brushito. Yet we sort of think all restaurant and airport bathrooms should have these. Fresh breath for all!

Related Stories:
· It's Hard to Sign On at Guadalajara Airport [Jaunted]

Tags: Bad Ideas / ANA / Bathrooms / Toilets / Airline Fees / → All Tags

ANA Politely Requests You Pee Somewhere That's Not On Their Airplane

Among the many, many problems that arise out of Ryanair's ongoing success—they're up another 17% by the way—is that people start to think like Ryanair executives. Japanese airline ANA, perhaps inspired by the "we'll charge you for the bathroom" shenanigans of Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary, has taken to trying to regulate the urination of its passengers by urging them to pee before they board. This can't be for real, right?

Sounds like it is, though:

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Travel the World of Posh Public Bathrooms; Anyone For Lion's Head Sinks?

Remember the best-selling book 1000 Places to See Before You Die? You know, the tome everyone who enjoys travel received for Christmas in like, 2004? Perhaps the best part of that book was the ability to go through and count up all of the spots you've already hit and plot for the rest.

We recommend doing something similar with Cintas' list of America's Best Restrooms, all currently vying for the title with voting open through July 31.

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Tags: Toilets / Cafes / Bathrooms / → All Tags

Viennese Cafe With Easy Bathroom Access

In a city we expect better from, the usually-culturally-rich Vienna, someone's really let us down by creating a cafe with a bunch of toilets lining the walls.

The theory is that if the male customers can sit on the toilet while drinking their coffee--they're not functioning toilets, in case you're freaking out--they'll be more rested and happier and, we presume, more likely to come back and buy their next coffee in the same spot.

The name now translates to "A Quiet Place" and we're thinking it's an appropriate name. Watching other customers sitting on the toilet is not our idea of high culture in Vienna, so we'll be staying away and leaving the cafe nice and quiet.

Related Stories:
· Cafe Loo-ses the Plot [Ananova]
· Phil Café and Store in Vienna [Jaunted]
· Vienna Travel Guide [Jaunted]

[Photo: Ananova]

Tags: Inauguration Travel / Inauguration 2009 / Barack Obama / Joe Biden / History / Bathrooms / → All Tags

Everyone Poops

We're still not buying the prediction that 4 million Obamaniacs will show up in DC to drink themselves stupid this January. But even if the crowd isn't that record-setting, you're still gonna be facing some serious bathroom lines. So Jennifer Lynn has written up "Where To Pee in DC: The Insider's Guide on Where to Go," a digital booklet you can print out at home that's on sale via eBay for just $2.50.

She gave the Washington Post a few tidbits from her incredibly niche guide to DC:

Among potentially less-crowded Mall locations, for example, she suggests the east wing of the National Gallery of Art, the combined National Museum of African Art, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and Freer Gallery of Art, and the US Botanic Garden. "There are some less well-known spots," she said in an interview.

Lynn says her insider's view of downtown bathrooms comes from years of working in the Reagan Building--one of the best places to "go" on Inauguration Day, she claims.

Democrats: Their guy hasn't even been inaugurated yet and they're already dumping on Reagan.

Related Stories:
· During Inauguration, Places to "Go" [WaPo]
· Inauguration Travel coverage [Jaunted]

Tags: Travel Tech / Bathrooms / iPhone / Websites / → All Tags

Worldwide Bathroom Maps on Your iPhone

Nothing is worse than being in unfamiliar territory and desperately searching for a restroom. Now thanks to good old technology, we can all work together to make being bathroom-less a thing of the past.

Sit Or Squat is a new web and phone application that maps out the location of public bathrooms. Just enter an address and it will pop up a Google map mashup with little blue dots indicating usable restrooms.

Restaurants, hotels, train stations and more are all listed on the community-created site. Users can write descriptions and add comments--and there are even pictures.

So far, London and seven US cities are listed, with more in the works.

Related Stories:
· Sit Or Squat [Official Site]
· Bathrooms coverage [Jaunted]

Tags: Train Travel / Cell Phones / TGV / Toilets / Bathrooms / → All Tags

Trapped in the Water Closet

Firefighters in France cut a passenger out of a train bathroom after his arm got stuck in the toilet. Yes, really.

The traumatized traveler was apparently fiddling with his cell phone when it fell into the toilet bowl. When he tried to fish it out, his arm got sucked into the plumbing, causing a two-hour delay for the TGV making its way to La Rochelle from Paris. Said a witness:

He came out on a stretcher, with his hand still jammed in the toilet bowl, which they had to saw clean off.

A spokesman for SNCF, which operates the TGV, called it "an unlikely accident," though unlikely makes it sound like it's happened before. Considering the state of most train bathrooms we've seen over the years, we'd gladly sacrifice a phone before sticking our arm in the plumbing.

Related Stories:
· Frenchman Delays Train After Getting Arm Stuck [Telegraph]
· Man's Arm Trapped in Toilet [BBC]

[Photo: FaceMePLS]

Tags: Toilets / Bathrooms / Rolf Potts / Books / → All Tags

The Rolf Potts Virtual Book Tour: The Cross-Cultural Ramifications of Wiping Your Ass

Long-term travel guru and po-mo hero Rolf Potts has been doing the travel blog circuit for the past week and a half, talking about travel writing, travel writing and, well, travel writing. So we put that topic aside and asked him to tell us a funny story from his new book, Marco Polo Didn't Go There. Thus this tale of pooping in India:

Chapter 5 of Marco Polo Didn't Go There is entitled "Something Approaching Enlightenment," and this story recounts a grand misadventure that transpired in the Indian Himalayas a few years ago.

By the time this tale ends, I have endured detainment by the Indian army, survived an attack by a giant mastiff dog that ripped my pants to shreds and spent a long night stuck in a town where the only place to sleep was a room occupied by three drunken, porn-obsessed Indian road engineers.

What I never included in the original story, however, is a small, tangential detail that can functionally serve as a little parable about the cross-cultural ramifications of wiping your ass.

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Luxury Overdose: Even More Golden Toilets in Hong Kong

Swisshorn Watches thought it would be a good idea to do some sort of over the top public relations stunt to help introduce their brand into the Asian market. So with the help of the Hang Fang Gold Technology Group, they built a massive palace entirely out of gold.

The Swisshorn Gold Palace in Hong Kong is 650 square meters of the stuff. Everything, including the desk, the bed, the couch, the carpet and, yes, even the toilet is gold. The project took five years to complete at the cost of $50 million. Other features include an entrance lobby, dining room, living space, bedroom and a bathroom.

The space is inspired by the legend of Emperor Han Wu, who promised his wife Ah-Jiao a palace of gold. That being said, for some reason it was designed with a "European architectural feel."

The palace is open daily, and admission is a mere $3. With about 2,500 visitors expected every day, they should recoup their costs in no time.

Related Stories:
· Swisshorn Gold Palace [Official Site]
· A Legend of Gold [DeZona]
· A Golden Throne in Hong Kong [Jaunted]
· Hong Kong Travel coverage [Jaunted]

Tags: Toilets / Bathrooms / Beijing Olympics / 2008 Olympics / Beijing Olympics 2008 / Olympics / → All Tags

Toilet Travel: Are You a Peach or a Banana?

Digging deeper into the files of random, unstandardized stuff from China: Apparently going to the bathroom is an even trickier matter than just figuring out the squatting thing. The extra challenge comes in figuring out which toilets belong to your gender.

A recent survey of public signs in Zhengzhou, for example, decided that 60 percent of the signs are unclear. One restaurant had banana on the sign for the men's and a peach on the women's; another place had a waterfall symbol for men and a picture of rain for women.

As if needing to pee in a foreign country isn't stressful enough, trying to guess which door you should enter definitely lends an anxious layer to the whole situation. But it could lead to some exciting gossip about Olympic athletes winding up in the wrong place with the wrong people, so we say, bring it on.

Related Stories:
· Banana and Peach Surprise on Menu [Ananova]
· Beijinging: Do You Sit or Squat? [Jaunted]
· Toilet coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Leo Reynolds]

Tags: Toilets / Bathrooms / eBay / → All Tags

Better Hold It Travel: Seattle Unloads Public Toilets

As teenagers, we were threatened with the conversion of the house phone to a pay phone complete with booth if we spent one more danged minute catching up on the latest high school gossip. Now you can do the same to your toilets if you win one of five eBay auctions for public toilets as Seattle yanks its facilities.

In 2004, the city installed five Hering-Bau WCmatic machines, offering unisex johns for free to tourists and locals--and the homeless, prostitutes and vandals. The New York Times even got a source to admit to smoking crack inside one.

After pouring $5 million into the project over four years, City Hall is hoping to make back some of its money in the auctions, which end August 1. The eBay ads suggest that a pre-owned automatic toilet can save you a lot of money, since they normally retail for $500,000.

They'd make a great base for an urban prank--anyone spare us some change?

Related Stories:
· Seattle's Automated Toilets Go Way of the Box and Chain [NYT]
· Why Public Toilets Should Pay You [Slate]
· Toilets coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: fireeyedboy]

Tags: National Parks / Active Travel / Toilets / Bathrooms / Camping / → All Tags

National Parks Travel: The $70,000 Toilet

If going to the bathroom was the one thing holding you back from scaling a mountain, then worry no more. Mount Rainier National Park will celebrate the grand opening of its new $70,000 toilet on Monday. That's right, the park will hold a ribbon cutting ceremony for a bathroom at the Cougar Rock Campground.

Surprisingly, this isn't an excessive government outlay. A Japanese environmental activism group donated the toilet, since Mount Fiji is Rainier's sister peak.

The facility uses cedar chips and natural composting to operate with very little water and apparently very little odor. Apparently.

There's only one issue with celebration. According to the park's official site, an unusually high amount of late season snow will keep the Cougar Rock Campground closed till June 13. What if they gave us a new toilet and nobody came?

Related Stories:
· Mount Rainier National Park [Official Site]
· Mount Rainier to Hold Ribbon-Cutting for Toilet [AP]
· National Parks coverage [Jaunted]

[Not a photo of the five-figure john: latca]