Balance is key when confronted with a squat toilet. For the westerner, it is useful to have a handle for stability, but, more importantly, to have strong leg muscles. I am no stranger to squat toilets. My first encounter was, surprisingly, in a small town in France. There have been times when I would have welcomed the squat. For example, on the train to Mexico City when I discovered the reason the seats were unsittable as the door flew open on a bend in the rails and I saw the woman standing on the toilet. Better a hole in the floor.

But the biggest challenge came at the bus station in Kaili. My guide had gone to buy the tickets and I was left to fend for myself with bags. I manage to travel with a relatively light load, keeping my backpack to 12 kilos with camera gear in a front pack so walking and climbing stairs do not hamper me. A squat toilet presents a different problem that may not be apparent until too late. There I was, pants around my knees using the walls for a little support, when it came time to get up. My leg muscles failed me. I could not raise myself to a standing position and I didn’t know how to yell, “Help, I’m stuck in this position, get me out of here” in Chinese. Nor would my pride have allowed me to do that even if I had known the words. This was a small space with not enough room to propel myself forward and get up camel style. This required a straight up motion. Several false starts and I was officially concerned that there was no way up that didn’t entail sitting on the toilet floor, or worse, and removing the backpack. The solution presented itself when I looked up and saw that I could reach the top of the door. Pull myself up. By this time, the leg muscles were jelly and useless. Arm muscles, my weakest, were required. Panting and panicked, I struggled, legs quivering and tears in my eyes, gaining upward movement an inch at a time. With one final end-of-strength pull, I was upright; shaking and heart pounding, but upright. With a nonchalance I didn’t feel, I opened the door and stepped out into the crowded room. My backpack was never out of sight, but the next time it will be on the floor.