The toilet situation

I'm quite at home with an Indian squat toilet (now considered to be a 'water toilet'), but Leh has introduced me to new standards. At first, the standard, squatting over a gap in the floorboards in a hut. This is known as the 'Ladakhi dry composting toilet' and the human waste is mixed with earth, and used as next years fertiliser. Actually it's not so bad, if you don't miss water; the dry region generally prevents a noticeable smell. On moving to more rural areas the earth is piled up around the gap at a slanting angle. This makes the squat slightly wider and distinctly less comfortable, but at least the earth is close at hand. On the next level, subtract the roof of the hut, as in Ladakh it only rains for a very limited number of days each year. For delux models, subtract the walls, and drop aspect. This essentially leaves you shitting in a hole in a field, with a shovel flush.