While Western-style 'thrones' are now found in most mid-range and top-end accommoda­tion, if you're a budget traveler expect the rather-less-royal 'squat toilet' to be the norm. Whether you consider squat toilets an incon­venience, anatomically healthy or part of’ the real Laos', there's really no cause for alarm -they're not that bad.

Instead of trying to approximate a chair or stool like a modern sit-down toilet, a tradi­tional Asian toilet sits more or less flush with the surface of the floor, with two footpads on either side of the porcelain abyss. Next to the typical squat toilet is a bucket or cement reservoir from which water is scooped using a plastic bowl. Firstly, toilet-goers use the scoop and water to clean their nether regions while still squatting over the toilet. Secondly, a cou­ple of extra scoops are poured into the toilet basin to flush the waste away. The more rustic toilets in rural areas may simply consist of a few planks over a hole in the ground.

Even in places where sit-down toilets are in­stalled, the plumbing may not be designed to take toilet paper. In such cases there will usu­ally be a rubbish bin for the used toilet paper.

Public toilets are uncommon outside hotel lobbies and airports. While you are on the road between towns and villages it's per­fectly acceptable to go behind a tree or use the roadside.