Thick smoke rises during an eruption from Mount Merapi, Indonesia's most active volcano, as seen from Tunggularum village in Sleman on March 11, 2023. (Photo by Devi Rahman/AFP Photo)

A girl with face pantings (C) looks on during a demonstration to mark al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day, after Friday prayers, in Kuala Lumpur on April 14, 2023. (Photo by Mohd Rasfan/AFP Photo)

Revellers make the most of Friday night in Soho, central London after the hottest day of the year recorded in the capital this year, June 17, 2022. (Photo by Marcin Nowak/Alamy Live News)

A soldier reacts after falling off a horse as members of the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, arrive at Green Park for a gun salute celebrating the King's birthday in London on November 14, 2022. King Charles III is celebrating his first birthday as monarch as he turns 74. (Photo by Daniel Leal/AFP Photo)

Artists and dancers perform dances during the Qhapaq Raymi (summer solstice) Festival in Cusco, Peru on December 21, 2022. Cusco is one of the most touristic cities in Peru and tries to return to normality, after two weeks of intense demonstrations in the country that left a balance of 26 deaths nationwide. (Photo by Lucas Aguayo Araos/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

People watch as a young Palestinian performs an acrobatic jump on the beach, during soaring summer temperatures in Gaza City on June 14, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas militant group. (Photo by Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP Photo)

An adult and two children stop to cool off at the water from an open fire hydrant in hot and humid weather in New York City on Thursday, July 11, 2024. After dealing with extreme humidity and heat for the past few days the trip-state area got a break as humidity levels took a slight but noticeable drop. (Photo by John Angelillo/UPI/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

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)