h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The lack of toilet paper doesn't surprise me. In the Mideast, the traditional toilets are squat toilets so cleanliness is less urgent (it is your feet that touch) and the traditional method of cleaning after is water and the left hand - hence it is extremely insulting to offer anyone anything at all in the left hand in many Asian cultures - or to eat with it. (Even if you don't use this method, you make a very poor impression if you eat with your left hand!). Toilet paper is used to dry the hand afterward, and naturally gets used up quickly since the whole roll gets soggy fast. You actually get used to this method pretty quickly if you are not a germophobe, and it leaves you pretty clean and sweet. Many toilet facilities (I have not been in UAE, but in Saudi) have a flexi hose beside the toilet that turns on and off for bum-washing. The water shooting all over the place can make a place look messier than it is. By the way, if you are in a place with the older method of water storage in tanks on the roof, be darn careful about using these water hoses during a hot summer day!

i had an arabic toilet(ie hole in the floor)in my flat in abu dhabi and found it very clean to use...but the plumbing in the building was iffy and it smelt like hell!