1. Take your own toilet paper!
A word of advice… always carry your own toilet paper with you. No, not all the way from your own country but whenever you go out in Chile. Fortunately, you don’t have to do the bush survival raspy-leaf swipes here. There IS toilet paper in Chile, but quite often you won’t find it in public places either because it has run out, been stolen or just wasn’t there in the first place. There’s nothing worse than having to rush to the bathroom and once finished you can’t find any toilet paper anywhere. So it pays to have a stash of it in your purse or bag… just in case.
2. Don’t get caught with your pants down!
You will find that in malls and cafes they will usually have some toilet paper in a padlocked dispenser. Problem is that sometimes this dispenser isn’t in your private cubicle but on one of the walls where you wash your hands. You can tell who the foreigners are because they’re the only ones waddling to the dispenser with their pants around their ankles and their butts flashing in the air as they quickly grab some toilet paper.
A common problem when the dispenser is outside of your cubicle is that you need to calculate how much you will need before you sit down (three wipes or four… hmm tough!). You need to bring into the equation whether you fold it (it’s never two-ply), how absorbent it looks and whether you’re going to be doing a few drops or an after-curry splatter. Before you sit down and relax make sure you have some at hand.
3. Paying for Toilets
Many places charge you to use their toilet unless you are a customer. However, shopping malls have good bathrooms and you don’t have to pay to use them. The only exception I can recall where you do have to pay for the toilets are the ones at Mall del Centro which is near the Santiago Plaza de Armas (the main square).
In some places there may be a person standing near the door with some toilet paper which sometimes means there isn’t any inside. If you want some you give them a tip.
On the same note, don’t expect to see much soap anywhere. About half the time the soap dispensers are empty (or is that just because of the type of places I visit).
4. Don’t flush the paper!
Another thing that surprises many foreigners is that you will see a little bin or plastic container next to the toilet. It’s not just for your normal trash but is to put the used toilet paper into. Sounds unhygienic, doesn’t it? That’s right; you aren’t supposed to flush toilet paper down the loo/toilet,/w.c./the throne or whatever you call it. You have to put it in that little bin next to the toilet. Basically if you don’t, it clogs the sewage system or mostly that toilet itself yet I haven’t figured out why it happens so much here. Having said this, in some ‘nice’ hotels you can put it straight into the bowl. (I hope there isn’t some guy lurking around with rubber gloves that comes in after you’ve finished that fishes your toilet paper out with a bent coathanger wire).
Now you know the reason most Chilean women carry toilet paper in their purse. If you are up for an experiment, ask a one if she has some loo paper on her and I bet she has.
Such a lovely conversation this, anyone up for lunch now?
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hahaha- ever the great (and necessary) topic! I wrote a piece called “BYOTP” a while back on the same topic (http://cachandochile.wordpress.com/2010/05/23/byotp-in-chile/)
It really isn’t necessary to carry a roll around though. They always sell nice little packets of tissues that are far easier to stash in a purse or pocket!
And most homes that I’ve been in allow TP flushing, although you will notice that the waste basket is always next to the toilet instead of near or under the sink.
I love your photo with the arrow stating “Get your TP here”.
Fortunately you didn’t continue with the rest of the instructions… “Wipe here, hang on, you left a bit, a little to the left, yep, you got it.”
with the accompanying photo
I forgot to mention as you did that toilet paper in Chilean Spanish is “Confort”, which is in fact a brand of toilet paper.
Hi, loved your article, and it’s mostly true! BUT… however, being chilean I must say that number four is false. They put signs for that, in case you are the type that likes to use A LOT of paper… but if that’s not the case, it is rarely seen that people throw toilet papers (used for that purpose) in the bin. Unless of course (and that brings me to my last pointer) it has something to do with the places you usually visit, like you mentioned about the soap thing.
Besides those two exceptions (paper in the bin, and soap), your article is true and it’s quite useful to advice people to bring always some toilet paper in their bags!!
And an addition to the ladies: don’t be embarrased to ask a stranger if they can hold the door for you… it is normal, they are usually not working (the doors) and probably you’ll get asked back.
Hi Magdalena,
I’d be interested to know why there are signs about not putting toilet paper into the toilet itself. Is it as you say just to stop people from clogging it with too much paper or because there is a problem with older sewage systems. I have noticed in “newer” buildings and houses that they don’t always have this sign or problem.
Maybe it’s because I don’t get invited to nice places any more.
Magdalena and Woodward- It all depends on where you are. For people living in the newer sections of Santiago, it’s not a problem because the plumbing can handle it. but in the older sections of the city and in rural areas, it clogs it up.
I worked in a building downtown that had been completely renovated when we moved in, but within a month or so, the toilets all backed up and we were instructed to never, ever use TP in the toilet again. No problems since!
Thanks for that Margaret.
Would it be because the older pipes are not as wide as the newer ones?
With all the engineers in Chile someone must know why!
Pretty much true for most of Central & South America. When toilet pressure is really low (the reason you have to toss it in the bin), there will also usually be a small bucket or something so that you can fill it with water to pour into the bowl when you flush to help it all down. Some of the less tourist-prone areas sometimes don’t even keep water in the toilet at all, and you have to add with each flush.
Loved your sense of humor with the post as well. Who thought an article about toilets could get me laughing?
Aha! Water pressure, we seem to be getting somewhere (as in an answer to the non-flushing).
In Chile I have never seem buckets of water near the toilet so I suppose the country is a step ahead of the rest in that sense. What happens if the bucket is empty?
OMG, I had totally forgotten about the bucket flush…it’s surprisingly effective, don’t you think?
Ah, yes, I remember the little baskets well.
Always carrying your own really is the No. 1 travel tip for the region.
Just like the old American Express ads said: Don’t leave home without it.
Super post.
Ha ha ha, Don’t leave home without it. So funny…. (yet so true).
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