The train rattled and clacked down the track. I sat cross legged, scribbling in my notebook as best as I could, looking up frequently to see neat green fields and palms lining the river. The Nile is Egypt. It is its past, present and future. From satellite images, you can see just how quickly the blue vein lined in green turns to tan desert. As the train chugged towards Aswan from Cairo, I noticed just how quickly this transition happens in some places.

Before being switched to Cairo, the original capital of Anicent Egypt was at Luxor, also known as Thebes. This area and the South, known as Upper Egypt boast some of the finest temples remaining in the country and is home to a deeply river based culture.

Here are some images from around Aswan, Abu Simbal and Luxor, capturing the ancient, modern and all revealing the importance of the Nile in Egypt.