A Spotters Guide to Toilets

Toilets Natures call has never been so beautifully answered Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the ultimate toilet book. As any experienced traveller knows, you can tell a whole lot about a place by its bathrooms. Whatever you prefer to call them lavatory, loo, bog, khasi, thunderbox, dunny, washroom or water closet toilets are a (sometimes opaque, often wide-open) window into the secret soul of a destination. Its not just how well theyre looked after thats revealing, but where they are positioned and the way theyve been conceptualised, designed and decorated. Toilets so often transcend their primary function of being a convenience to become a work of art in their own right, or to make a cultural statement about the priorities, traditions and values of the venues, locations and communities they serve. The lavatory is a great leveller everyone feels the call of nature, every day but, like any common species, being ubiquitous doesnt make it uniform. Around the planet (and beyond it, see ) toilets have followed various evolutionary pathways to best suit their environment.

In these pages youll find porcelain pews with fantastic views, audacious attention-seeking urban outhouses, and eco-thrones made from sticks and stones in all sorts of wild settings, from precipitous mountain peaks to dusty deserts. So, wherever youre reading this, we hope youre sitting comfortably.

S 41 17 5.5968 E 174 46 41.6604 Lobster loos, Wellington, New Zealand Spend a penny? Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, spent NZ$375,000 on architect Bret Thurstons boggly-eyed design for the public lavatories on the citys windswept waterfront. It is hoped that the two tentacles, armoured in orange steel, will attract tourists to Wellington, though its a long way to go. LINDA MCKIE / GETTY IMAGES N 37 49 37.1172 W 122 25 22.6416 Alcatraz, San Francisco, USA If you were a guard at Alcatraz high-security prison, you had to have a head for heights, even during your toilet breaks. CHRIS WAHLBERG / GETTY IMAGES N 51 30 46.0152 W 0 8 29.7888 Sketch London, UK Dont panic! These arent alien eggs waiting to hatch in a futuristic world. CHRIS WAHLBERG / GETTY IMAGES N 51 30 46.0152 W 0 8 29.7888 Sketch London, UK Dont panic! These arent alien eggs waiting to hatch in a futuristic world.

Theyre the famous toilet pods at Sketch restaurant, one of Londons swankiest eateries. At least we think they are. As the night gets later, the lighting gets wilder. ED REEVE N 51 30 18.2304 W 0 5 14.9244 Shard, London, UK Enjoy a birds-eye view of London landmarks such as the Gherkin when you use the facilities in the Shard, the British capitals pointiest building, designed by architect Renzo Piano. The privilege of using the Shards viewing platform will set you back 25. BEN CAWTHRA / LNP N 58 46 W 94 9 Tundra toilet, Arctic Canada The orange sail around this alfresco Arctic potty in Canadas far north is not there to protect anyones modesty its there to prevent peoples posteriors from being frozen solid to the seat in the -80C (-112F)temperatures that can grip the windchilled polar tundra.

Few linger long enough to finish the crossword. ANDR GILDEN / 500PX N 38 12 50.9364 W 119 0 16.5636 Bodie Ghost Town, California, USA There might not be any riches remaining in the old gold-mining town preserved in Bodie State Historic Park but the restroom is a gem. With views over the badlands of California, northeast of Yosemite, this is one toilet trip youll remember. BILL WIGHT / GETTY IMAGES N 38 52 58.4940 W 77 0 58.9032 Prototype space toilet No, Earthling, this isnt an alien probing machine its a space toilet. Performing basic human functions in zero gravity is complicated. A suction system helps things travel in the desirable direction.

Get it wrong, and youll leave the ultimate floater but at least, in space, no one can hear you scream. ADAM JAMIESON / GETTY IMAGES N 18 57 E 74 102 26 Jungle toilet, Vang Vieng, Laos Vang Vieng in Laos was once infamous for raucous jungle parties, full of wasted Westerners tubing along the tree-lined Nam Song River. The illegal bars were closed in 2012, and now better-behaved travellers can enjoy a more tranquil experience although answering a call of nature still feels pretty wild.