Where is this Sahaf (second-hand bookstore)!?
Zeynep – Timeless pages of Ankara
Even if you’ve been living in Ankara for a very long long time, it is perfectly reasonable that you may not know even a single second-hand bookstore in this city. It’s not because there are a few of them, but it is because you don’t really look around. To see a sahaf is nothing like finding the most popular bookstore in the city. But it is definitely not a difficult mission to accomplish. So, if you are like me, which means you have seriously no sense of direction whatsoever, try to plan your trip to sahaf. Forums like ekşi will provide you with some insight into this topic. You need to know what is out there before understanding where these bookstores are located.
You should know that you need to walk into quiet, sometimes narrow, sometimes steep streets to see the sahaf you are looking for. The purpose of the sahaf is not attracting many people and offering them a shopping experience. Rather, sahaf is a place where you can quietly explore the history and culture, and spend as much time as you like.
You want to get started with some directions, right? Here is the perfect map for finding second-hand bookstores in Ankara! Follow this on your phone, and you’ll complete your trip without getting lost.However, getting lost shouldn’t scare you. My experiences proved me that you can find really interesting stuff when you don’t follow a certain path. Just last weekend, I didn’t have any intention to go to a sahaf, but by mistake I walked into an unknown street in Tunus. There I found a second-hand bookstore called Anadolu Kitabevi. It is a small sahaf that offers history, photography and arabic books. What actually strikes my attention was the small box in the middle of the store that contains many old pictures, postcards and letters. I got so excited because each item has an incredible history that makes you feel nostalgic. The fact that they are kept in a box randomly makes them look more authentic and inviting to explore.
