tbh I cannot think of anywhere that is directly comparable that I would less like to visit.
Maybe I associate all of the connotations of religious conflict and intolerance too strongly, but given some of the reactions I have heard/read from those who live there it just doesn't strike me as a relaxing place to visit and much of the history is centred around a concept I find laughable in its sincerity and persistent loss of life because of it.
As a godless heathen I cannot find anything remotely 'holy' about the so called 'holy land' and maybe that's the problem for me. But sometimes it seems that no-one else can agree on the precept of the holy land either- they all claim it belongs to them and not 'those other filthy peoples who only came here after us and said it was theirs not ours'.
Again, maybe that is my failing to unavoidably see the tension that so often breaks the surface in that part of the world. All of that suffering for a difference of ideals and beliefs makes what is most likely a reasonable place to visit look to me a most unattractive prospect for my mindset.
Still, nice baps though
