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Most of the world has come a long way since the days of outhouses and holes in the ground of yesteryear. For the travelling toilet aficionado, they can treat their backside to not only the finest materials known to man, but some of the finest technology as well. After giving these luxury toilets around the world a try, it simply won't feel right to go in a regular toilet again.

The Invisible Outhouse

The Invisible Outhouse

This mirror box seems an innocuous looking outhouse at first, but the interior is absolutely diabolical. While no one can see in, you can completely see your surroundings while going to the bathroom. Certainly having a view of London while on the loo is lovely at first, but what are you going to do when someone starts tapping on the glass?

Dagobert Toilet Throne

Dagobert Toilet Throne

Dagobert was the last ruler of the French Merovingian dynasty; today we honour his legacy by naming and designing a toilet after him. What a lucky guy. The Dagobert toilet features throwbacks to Dagobert's age such as ash wood construction and hand-painted designs. When you lift the lid, the toilet plays "Le Bon Roi Dagobert" to welcome you and flushes with all the ease of a chain pull. The Dagobert also comes with fun accessories like an ashtray and candle holder, making it fit for a king.

The Vertebrae

The Vertebrae

The Vertebrae isn't so much a toilet as it is a fully functional bathroom that is hinged along a single vertical spine. With adult-sized shower, kid-sized shower, storage, sink, and toilet, what more could a person need? Essentially, a seriously determined person could take a shower, brush their teeth and go to the bathroom all at the same time. Well, technically you can do that in the standard shower, but the Vertebrae eliminates the shame of it.

The Dolce and Gabbana Gold Bathroom

The Dolce and Gabbana Gold Bathroom

This shimmering golden bathroom is the kind of opulence that one would expect from a restaurant simply named Gold, a sponsor by Dolce and Gabbana and a bathroom in Milan, Italy. With golden bamboo walls, giant mirrors, marble counters and a constant loop of Goldfinger playing, the Gold restaurant bathroom has serviced stars such as Giselle, Kylie Minnogue and Paris Hilton while representing the true gold standard of the Dolce and Gabbana brand.

The Bottomless Bathroom

The Bottomless Bathroom

Located in the PPDG penthouse in Guadalajara, Mexico is a bathroom that may be so terrifying you'll be glad you are so near a toilet. The bottomless bathroom is located atop the 15th story of a now defunct elevator shaft with just a hopefully very thick layer of glass separating it from a very long fall.

The Aquarium Toilet

The Aquarium Toilet

You like fish? You like fish so much that you have aquariums all over your house? Well, then you definitely need this toilet. It provides an aquarium in the flush tank, which is equal parts awesome and creepy. Just think of the horrible things those poor fish will see, you'll be thankfully goldfish only have a three second memory. Of course, the actual flush tank and the fish tank are kept separate and the tank also features some handy LED lights that can be used instead of actual bathroom lights to save electricity. Owners of this toilet can also use the aquarium as a diorama-type display if they don't want to horrify some living creatures.

Egg Toilets

Egg Toilets

From the outside, the pods found in London's "sketch" restaurant may look like a Space Age pod for hatching humans, but it's actually just its bathrooms. With ambient lighting and music as well as fully encased rooms, these are some of the most soothing bathrooms in the world.

The Self Cleaning Restroom

The Self Cleaning Restroom

The Sanisette in Paris, France is a revolutionary public restroom. It is the first of its kind that is actually self-cleaning. After patrons exit the washroom, the wash cycle begins before it will accept its next customer. The toilet is scrubbed inside and out with disinfectant and 60 seconds later it is ready to go.

The Loo With A View

The Loo With A View

As some of the tallest bathrooms in the world, visitors should expect that the bathrooms in Seattle, Washington's Columbia Tower to at least have a pretty decent view. The bathroom on the 76th floor boasts the best views, overlooking the Seattle skyline from its mighty perch.

The Eco-Friendly Bathroom

The Eco-Friendly Bathroom

It's not surprising that the world's greenest bathroom would be found in Milwaukee, Wisconsin's Urban Ecology Centre. This restroom uses 100 percent rainwater in its low-flow toilets, the lights and pumps are solar powered, it's towels and toilet paper are made from recycled materials and it's soaps and cleaners are all biodegradable. Even the paint on the walls is made from organic compounds. This bathroom is as much of an exhibit as it is a place to discreetly dispose of waste.

The Retractable Toilet

The Retractable Toilet

How does Europe keep its after-dark partiers from urinating in the back alleys and parks of their city? By installing the unique creation of retractable toilets from the Dutch company Urilift. These hydraulic restrooms are stored underground during the day to keep the surrounding areas beautified, but once the sun goes down, they rise just like the inebriated masses. With lights, but no doors, this urinal is the perfect haven for the drunk prone to public urination.

Urine-Control Video Game Toilet

Urine-Control Video Game Toilet

Ever been struck with mind-numbing boredom while relieving yourself in the restroom? Yeah, me neither. However, that hasn't stopped game designers in Japan and the United Kingdom from designing unique urine controlled video game systems. These masterminds have taken to selling and installing these systems strategically in bars, which have lead to some not so surprising results. Apparently, those with urine video games have nearly doubled their beer sales since.

Bunker Bathroom

Bunker Bathroom

If travellers ever find themselves in Beijing when some sort of catastrophic disaster is going down, they best make a run for this bullet-proof public toilet. This 15-ton bathroom in Zhong Guan Village Plaza is perhaps the safest place in the entire city. Immune to TNT explosives even from the inside, this public restroom was part of Beijing's anti-terror initiative after 9/11.

The Underwater Toilet

The Underwater Toilet

The aquarium toilet wasn't enough wondrous undersea ambiance in the bathroom? Well, to get an even better undersea bathroom experience, travellers will have to venture to Akashi, Japan and pay a visit to the ladies room of the Mumin Papa Cafe. In one of the most expensive bathrooms in the world, costing over $275,000, whatever happens in here will be between you, your deity of choice and the fishes.

Crazy Crystal Bathroom

Crazy Crystal Bathroom

When visitors venture into the bathroom of New York City's Bar 89, they are in for a surprise. From the outside it looks as if there is no door to the toilets, but rather a door of uniquely coloured, yet still very exposing, glass. However, once visitors step inside the stall, the crystal magically turns opaque. It is l;ess magic and more science as it is actually the product of a sheet of crystals controlled by volts of electricity that turn clear and opaque as needed.

Swarovski-studded Toilet

Swarovski-studded Toilet

Have a love for Swarovski crystals? While opulent designer Jemal Wright has unveiled a toilet design that is sure to leave you drooling. This throne of kings is completely studded with Swarovski crystals boasting only a $75,000 price tag. Of course, you could save some serious cash by taking a glue gun and a couple bags of rhinestones to your own bathroom toilet for the same effect.

Themed Toilets

Themed Toilets

Travellers generally don't go to the Chung Yo department stores in Taichung City, Taiwan to explore their lavatories. However, they are all worth checking out. Each bathroom in each department store is designed with a different theme. There is a Coca-Cola bathroom, a "Wizard of Oz" bathroom and a "Finding Nemo" bathroom, but the lavatory that is making the real waves is the bar-bathroom combination men's restroom for those that would like to grab a cold one as they use the urinal.

The James Bond Toilet

The James Bond Toilet

The Safe House restaurant in Milwaukee, Wisconsin is filled with trap doors, hidden passages, passwords and everything one would expect from a spy restaurant. That theme continues all the way to its bathroom. In order to even enter the loo, visitors will have to navigate a series of complicated mazes and trick doors just to get there. Thankfully the bathroom is significantly less complicated, but diners should expect at least a 15 minute trip when they excuse themselves to use the restroom.

The $5 Million Dollar Toilet

The $5 Million Dollar Toilet

Listed as the world's most expensive toilet by the Guinness Book of World Records, the Hang Fun Gold Technology Group's 24-carat gold toilet in Hong Kong is truly the pinnacle of fancy pooping. This golden toilet sits in the demonstration washroom dubbed the "Hall of Gold" which features gold bars embedded in the floor and gold flake toilet paper. The toilet itself is valued as $5 million dollars while the bathroom as a whole is valued at a shocking $29 million.

The Space Toilet

The Space Toilet

As for the most expensive toilet, well the prize goes to a toilet that is out of this world, literally. While space holds the answer to a number of intriguing questions, according to NASA the only thing the average Joe wants to know is how people got to the bathroom up there on the International Space Station. The answer is NASA's $19 million zero gravity toilet. This special toilet features leg braces for ultimate accuracy and fans that suck all the waste away into a septic tank. Of course, urine is sent into a special filter where it is purified and reused for drinking - yum!

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