THE hardest part about Israel is getting there. Get ready to face questions like 'What is the purpose of your visit? Why would anyone from Singapore want to come to our country?'.

It happens even before you enter the country - at the few official international gantry points of Heathrow airport in London, where you will be met by buff security personnel quadruple-checking everything.

Somehow, you feel safer for all the checks, and applaud along with your fellow passengers when your plane lands at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv five hours later.

At some 20,000sq km and essentially a tract of land three world religions have staked claims on, upon the pain of human sacrifice, Israel is not called The Holy Land for nothing.

Everyone will speak of Jerusalem, the mythical city which literally opens out of the Bible with its residents of Orthodox Jews in tall hats, Muslim women in burqas and assorted Christian clergy in all manner of vestments.

This is no fairy tale or amusement park, however. You breathe in the exotica by way of cinnamon scents floating through Arab spice shops sitting uncomfortably outside the Wailing Wall, and imagine yourself to be some romantic explorer a la Da Vinci Code.

But the omnipresent stare of soldiers toting Uzis jolts you back to reality.

Israel requires all its men and women to undertake a three-year military training. The recruits get to go home on selected weekends, but check out with their weapons.

Walk into the Max Brenner chocolate cafe, or one of Tel Aviv's or Jerusalem's trendy bars, and do not be surprised to see a fit 18-year-old in mini-skirt and high heels with an assault rifle strapped across her back.

Domestic and foreign tourists throng the party and diving resorts of Eilat on the Red Sea, sun-tanning in bikinis and exposing belly buttons.

Kilometres away in various kibbutz (communes), Orthodox Jewish women scarcely show a strand of hair under dark headwraps.

This is a land of contradictions. While more than seven Christian denominations fight for their tiny scrap of ground each in Jerusalem's Church Of The Holy Sepulchre, out-singing each other in a bid to claim sonic territory, one transsexual crooner by the name of Dana International in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem continues to outrage conservative locals and court modern liberals upon winning the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest.

The liberal face of Israel can be found in Tel Aviv and the modern, commercial marine resorts. Beautiful youth, who have finished scouring historic land by way of army service, revel in club and beach culture, shunning the other top three tourist traps of Galilee, the Jordan River and Nazareth.

Such latter sites in turn become playgrounds of the pilgrims. Arriving in tour buses, they clasp bibles or rosaries, marvelling at the beautifully preserved mosaics of the church where Jesus apparently broke bread and shared fish for thousands.

They tut-tut at the artificiality of the Italianate Church Of The Mount Of Beatitudes, where rebuilding to air-conditioned standards has also caused the prices of souvenir medals to shoot up.

They wade in the cool springs of the Jordan River's source in Tel Dan, only to wince when they see the surprisingly narrow grey-brown sludge it has turned into further downstream.

Then, there is the Dead Sea - preferably visited through the free site off Ein Gedi, away from the pay-per-entry commercial resorts. Here, bathers flock to take photos of themselves reading newspapers in the ocean.

Do not be deceived by the talk of clear, friendly waters, however. All the salt in the Dead Sea might help you float, but jump head-first into the blue and you will find your eyes painfully scalded by the foul-tasting, soapy water.

What the Dead Sea does deliver, however, are its famous minerals - not only for cooking enhancement, but also for industrial consumption and beauty treatments.

The Ahava factory near the southern tip of the sea is home to incredibly clear-skinned salesgirls waving Chinese and Japanese catalogues, who successfully persuade you to invest in packs of sweet-smelling Dead Sea mud at 70 per cent cut-price offers.

While much of the territory is desert, Israel has not also been called The Land Of Milk And Honey for nothing - 'honey' here referring not to the variety hoarded by bees, but huge sugar-soaked dates growing from palm trees.

Together with apricots, pomegranates and fruit and nuts imported from various parts of the Middle East, they make popular souvenirs for tourists to take home.

And if food is not enough, Israel's wines also make for decent shopping.

The Carmel and Golan Heights vineyards - the latter can be viewed while driving through the higher-altitude extremes of Israel's mountains and one ski resort (Mt Hermon) - yield surprisingly refreshing whites and nutty reds.

This is perhaps on account of the one year of rest for every seven years of usage that Jewish laws require of traditional winemakers. This is the fabled kosher stuff that rabbis around the world ask for use in their synagogues; and which Israeli friends request from overseas, if you can first get past the stringent airport security, that is.

By the time you have packed your bags for departure, be prepared to brave another hour of inspection at the X-ray machines and gloved hands of searchers.

Amid the unpacking of your delicately bagged dirty laundry, boxes of souveneir matzos are removed and opened to show that crumbs within are indeed the stuff of unleavened bread, computers are switched on for Powerpoint test demonstrations to prove that they are not explosives, and ballpoint pens are unscrewed for bomb-residue testing.

'I'm sorry for the inconvenience,' says the search officer matter-of-factly.

'But we'll make sure it gets to London or Singapore or wherever in one piece - as we'll make sure you do, too.'

5 things to do

1. Do get lost in the Wilderness of Zin. Moses and his gang wandered around here for 40 years. While you may not be ready to pitch your tent like him, at least take a commemorative picture against the dramatic backdrop of sand formations.

A good place to plant your feet for the requisite shot is from Ben Gurion's grave at the Sde Boker Academy, ironically famous for its contributions to desert irrigation and agriculture technology.

2. Do eat oranges in Jaffa. Situated on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, Jaffa today isn't quite the home of orange groves - found largely in the inner territories now - but more the port from which they were once shipped around the world.

However, it is still a beautiful old city, and its winding streets and warehouses make for good evening strolling. Watch out for the statue of the Whale that swallowed Jonah, who set sail from Jaffa.

3. Do compare the Virgins in Nazareth. The Basilica Of Annunciation in Nazareth is home to mural portraits of the Virgin Mary from around the world.

Catch her in curious national costumes sent in by devotees, including a kimono from Japan, a kaftan from Africa and a garish statue looking uncannily like the Goddess of Mercy, from Taiwan.

4. Do hike in Ein Gedi (above). David once hid in this oasis while on the run from Saul. These days, you're more likely to be hiding from the heat.

This is also a good place to spot Israel's national endangered pet, the wild ibex, and the furry hyrax, which you might mistake for a well-fed rabbit.

5. Do conquer Masada. Army recruits are sent up this fortress of Herod's to be reminded of how their Jewish Zealot ancestors, rather than submit to attacking Romans in AD 73, decided to slaughter their own families in systematic mass suicide.

'Masada shall never fall again,' so the new recruits are exhorted.

For tourists today, any falling off the 440m-tall fortress would be via an air-conditioned cable car. Army recruits, of course, scale up and down the cliffs in the hot sun.

2 don'ts

1. Don't take personal security for granted. In light of the recent troubles with Lebanon, stay clear of territories bordering that country, and avoid overcrowded places and events during religious festivals, for example.

2. Don't tour the Palestinian Territories, for it is a tricky expedition into these pockets of landlocked territories within the larger mass of Israeli-controlled territories.

If you really must, licensed and unlicensed tours, however, are available, as advertised by Palestinian-plated taxis in Nazareth, or by Arab tour guides who approach you unsolicited at Jerusalem's Jaffa Gate.

Go at your own risk, so you're often warned, as the law and infrastructure there are unlikely to protect you fully in the case of an unexpected turn of events.