Travel photographer Amos Chapple recently crossed into Turkmenistan on a three-day transit visa and was able to photograph many of the sights and monuments in Ashgabat, the capital and largest city. Turkmenistan is a single-party country, a former Soviet state, run by a president at the center of a cult of personality.

Photo: A young couple leave the Alem Entertainment Center in Ashgabat. The current president has a history of breaking obscure records. In 2012 the wheel atop this complex was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest enclosed Ferris wheel. The structure was built at a cost of $90m. (Photo by Amos Chapple via The Atlantic)

The “Summer House” season 7 premiere party at The Ready Rooftop in the second decade of February 2023. (Photo by Dan Nilson)

This photo taken on March 10, 2023 shows a panda playing with one of its twin cubs at the Sibao Science Park in Xian in China's northern Shaanxi province. (Photo by AFP Photo/China Stringer Network)

Blake Shelton looks “Worse for Wear” after a 5hr dinner with Girlfriend Gwen Stefani and fellow Country star Luke Bryan at “Craigs” Restaurant in West Hollywood, CA on April 15, 2019. (Photo by SPW/Splash News and Pictures)

American model Emily Ratajkowski cuddles up with Teddy surrounded by all the trappings of coziness in Hôtel Hennes, New York City on June 21, 2022. (Photo by Madison McGaw/BFA.com)

A life-size robot named “Mark 1”, built by product and graphic designer Ricky Ma, 42, is seen in Hong Kong, China March 31, 2016. Ma, a robot enthusiast, spent a year-and-a half and more than HK$400,000 ($51,000) to create the humanoid robot, which is modelled after a Hollywood star, to fulfil his childhood dream. The eyes of the robot include face and color tracking functions. (Photo by Bobby Yip/Reuters)

A damselfly sits on a leaf at a garden in Nagaon district in the northeastern state of Assam, India, on October 3 , 2023. (Photo by Anuwar Hazarika/NurPhoto/Rex Features/Shutterstock)