The Majestic Mount Qasiyun

First agenda of the day was climbing Mount Qasiyun for visiting Maqam El-Arba’in - tomb of the 40 Saints or Walis in Malay, and place claimed to be the spot where Habil (Abel) murdered by Qabil (Cain). Will share it later.
We took two taxis (fortunately the taxi allowed 5 persons in their car) from the restaurant and arrived at the minivan station at the foot of the Mount Qasiyun of Abdel Ghani En Nabish street at Abu Jerash district 10 minutes later around 08:40 hours.
Photo above: The starting point of our flight by foot to the tomb. I remembered Amir asked us to count the steps, but I only managed counting it up to 200 plus. What a useless effort! I mean what the heck that we unnecessarily wasted our energy - counting the stairs? For what???!
The minivans were literally a very unusual (to me) mini size vans. Believed me, these mini China made vans are the main public transport other than small size pick-up trucks, mobilizing people from the mountain foot through the narrow alley and steep slope of the village. Azmi approached one of the drivers but turned it off because the high fare that he charged. Normally, to reach the Maqam Al-Arba’in for roughly 2 hours visit (including the ascending and descending the mountain), one should charter one van for around 250 Syrian Pound (SP), i.e., around 20 RM. Another driver eventually agreed to drive us for 250 SP per van.

We cut the deal, and there we were a 15 minutes amusing and amazing ride along the alleyways of Al-Salihiye to the mid-point of the mountain. The ride was far more exciting that words could explain, especially when another vehicle came rolling down the steep cliff alley and yours backed-up into the house or store of a local guy to give them space. After we reached the end of the road, we then climbed a flight of what Amir said 637 stairs, I mean uneven 637 concrete stairs

It is rightly said that the flight leading to the tomb is a climber’s delight. As we ascended the steep hill breathtaking scenery unfolded before your eyes. The weather was really on our side, alhamdullillah. The view of the Damascus city from the top was awesome, even the two minarets of the Ummayad Masjid were distinctly visible. At times thick mists could momentarily obscure the scenic landscape scenery disappointing enthusiastic shutterbugs. Alhamdullillah - praise only for Allah swt, we finally made it to the majestic Mount Qasiyun.