Istanbul, Car-crash-stinople?

As most of our small blog audience already knows, our long weekend jaunt to Istanbul, Turkey, was horribly ruined by a roll-over car crash about 30 minutes after arriving in country. . .

We had planned a four-night trip to Istanbul as a nice way to break up our otherwise fully-Cairene summer. So, we happily booked our cheap Turkish airlines ticket and took the 2 hour flight across the Med. Arriving at the airport we skipped the baggage claim and after a few minutes of searching found the driver holding our name on a sign as our hotel (the May Hotel in Istanbul) promised. Getting in the late-model sedan-van (which seems to be a form factor exclusive to Europe - basically a sedan with sliding doors and a high roof), Kate and I both sat in the back seat. However, as I automatically buckled my seatbelt I found that the clicker of my seatbelt was damaged and wouldn't click. So, as is sometimes a second try here in Cairo taxis, I slid over to the middle seat, dug out the clicker from the fold, and buckled in a bit closer to my wife. About 3 minutes after leaving the airport on a highway, I looked up and saw a car trying to u-turn in front of us. The ensuing 55 mph car crash occurred without brakes being applied, at least one flip, and a point-of-view action sequence curiously similar to those in the movies.

When the motion stopped, we heard our driver groan and lurch from the car and Kate and I looked at each other, at which point I said "This is the worst car accident you've ever been in, right?" And it was. We emerged from the car and the scene unfolded with two people laying unconscious in the grass of the median (our driver and the other driver), a Range Rover on its roof, and two American-Cairenes that were overly focused on getting their luggage out of the

locked trunk and asking helpful bystanders "do you speak English?" (many answered "Yes, and I think you should sit down.") We found two helpful men that spoke English, got our bags out for us, and arranged for us to head to a great Hospital - after asking us if we had international insurance.

Luckily we did - Thanks BUPA! and we had two days of top-notch scans and care in the International Hospital of Istanbul. Our private room was very comfortable, and our doctors put us at ease. In the final tally we had five stitches, one broken sternum, one broken rib, one fissure in a vertebrae, exact outlines of where our seatbelts were, and 78,325 aches and pains that were due to fade.

At the point, the blessings were already piling up:

1. I found a seatbelt in the center. I have no idea what my outlook would be otherwise.
2. We were the only people able to stand after the accident
3. There were plenty of helpful people at the crash site
4. We had international insurance
5. We were near a great hospital
6. We retained our luggage, besides a guide book and my glasses that flew off somewhere
7. We had cell phones and a netbook to easily communicate, straight from the ER.

The rest is pretty much a story of lying on our backs in hospitals and hotels recovering.

However, the proprietor at the May Hotel was determined to extend our misfortune as long as we stayed in Istanbul. He claimed that we found the wrong driver, which wasn't his, and made the whole accident a story about how it was our fault, just to demonstrate how far removed the hotel is from liability. After asserting this fact, he insisted on charging us for an extra night since we couldn't check out at the normal time for our evening flight on the last day, needing to use the room to rest in until our arduous journey home. And of course since we needed help to the airport he could arrange that for a healthy fee. So, feeling insulted by a hotel we thought would take care of us, we gave the opportunistic money-grubber what we needed to preserve our health and put this trip behind us, flying home and happily and safely continuing our recovery in Cairo, which is going quite well.

But, in this public forum I'd like to make one last announcement about seatbelts. As well-brought-up Americans it is no question that when a seatbelt is there, we put it on. But, it's very easy to grow complacent when traveling in foreign countries to just accept it and go without when there not available. However, these rare disasters can happen anywhere, and if they do, I'm now further convinced: it's worth it to insist on a seatbelt. In my case it could have been the difference between this being a learning experience and a tragic statistic.

So, I recommend: buckle up.