I AM standing on the floor of the Tethys Ocean. High above me are rocky outcrops, their sea-hewn crags forming dramatic, otherworldly shapes. By my feet lie the bones of some long-dead sea creature, now partly covered by a dusting of sand.

I feel enveloped by the thick silence that pervades this strange, magical place but there is no water in this ocean, for the seas retreated millions of years ago and the seabed is a parched desert.

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Wadi Al-Hitan, or the Valley of the Whales, is some 90 miles south-west of Cairo in Egypt's Western Desert. It's a Unesco World Heritage Site but, unlike the celebrated Pyramids of Giza, features on few itineraries. When the area was excavated in the Eighties by paleontologists, they discovered a treasure trove of marine fossils: the remains of whales and the teeth and bones of crocodiles, sea cows, sharks and fish dating back 45 million years.

With my head draped in a practical scarf as protection against the sun, I walk around this extraordinary open-air museum. At one point I pass a large turtle shell, at another some eerie fossilised mangroves. It is the skeleton of a Basilosaurus that really catches my eye. This primitive whale, a sign explains, had tiny hind legs, a reminder that while land animals evolved from sealife, whales then did an evolutionary u-turn and readapted to live in water.

I am here as part of a Cox & Kings Relax & Explore break in Cairo. People tend to see Cairo as a starting point for a Nile cruise, rather than a destination in itself.
Yet, as I discover, this ancient city can also make a fascinating place for a short break, especially now you can stay in a romantic boutique hotel on the banks of the Nile. The Kempinski Nile, which opened last year, provides an oasis from the tumult of the streets.

With contemporary Egyptian artworks, modern bedrooms, a spa and several restaurants, it lets you live like a pharaoh without the dodgy embalming practices. Any journey through Cairo's traffic is an adventure and after a three-hour trip back from the desert, I am glad to get to my room for a shower.

After gin and rose-water cocktails on the rooftop bar, I am ready for dinner at the Floor 10 restaurant. Fluffy cheese souffle, a rich coffee dessert and great views of the Nile take some beating.

Of course, you can't come to Cairo without seeing the Pyramids and I am up early in the morning to see these icons of Egypt.

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The air is thick with smog and pungent with the whiff of camel: the hawkers and tour buses are out in force but somehow these ancient tombs still exude a distinctive magic. Despite the crowds posing for "comedy" kiss-the-Sphinx photos, the statue maintains an enigmatic aloofness. A short drive south-west of Cairo near Memphis, the capital of the Old Kingdom of Egypt, is Saqqara.

For thousands of years this necropolis was the burial place of choice for royalty, nobles and officials. Inside the tomb of Kagemni, a judge, I can imagine the excitement felt by Victorian explorers as they climbed down through the roof and discovered chamber after chamber decorated with scenes of life on the Nile.

Even more impressive is the nearby Step Pyramid, built about 2,600 BC for the king Djoser by his architect Imhotep. It was the first stone pyramid. Prior to that, grand tombs had been low, flat-topped brick rectangles known as mastabas. Djoser wanted something impressive, so Imhotep took the standard base, then piled smaller versions on top, creating the distinctive pyramid shape. Soon everyone wanted one.

After the Pyramids, Cairo's most famous attraction is the Egyptian Museum, home to a stunning display of artefacts from Tutankhamun's tomb. It is certainly not the only place worth seeing. On my last day I visit the serene Ibn Tulun Mosque, built in the 9th century, and the adjacent Gayer-Anderson Museum.

Finally, I head to Old Cairo, where several Coptic Christian churches predate the coming of Islam. St Sergius church, said to have been built over caves where the Holy Family hid on their flight into Egypt, is the oldest. With the altar concealed behind an ornate wooden screen it feels decidedly foreign, as if, like the Pyramids and the sands of Wadi Al-Hitan, it too conceals many secrets.

GETTING THERE:

Cox & Kings (0207 873 5000/ coxandkings.co.uk) offers four nights at the Kempinski Nile Hotel from £1,025pp (two sharing), B&B. The price includes return flights with bmi (0844 848 4888/flybmi.com) from Heathrow to Cairo and private transfers. Egyptian State Tourist Office: 0207 493 5283/egypt.travel