A cyclist rides in al-Qudra desert in the Gulf emirate of Dubai, on June 8, 2020. (Photo by Giuseppe Cacace/AFP Photo)

A mahout splashes water on his elephant on a hot summer day in Ahmedabad, India on April 8, 2019. (Photo by Amit Dave/Reuters)

A girl carries breads on her head as she walks in the snow, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, February 8, 2022. (Photo by Hussein Malla/AP Photo)

Afghan balloon vendors walk with their bicycles to look for customers, near a market in Kabul on January 8, 2025. (Photo by Wakil Kohsar/AFP Photo)

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)

A picture made available on 20 June 2016 shows people praying as they wait to break the fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in Karachi, Pakistan, 19 June 2016. Muslims around the world celebrate the holy month of Ramadan by praying during the night time and abstaining from eating and drinking during the period between sunrise and sunset. Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar and it is believed that the Koran's first verse was revealed during its last 10 nights. (Photo by Shahzaib Akber/EPA)

In this July 20, 2018 photo, Joshep Balta, a clown named “Cachupito”, peers through the tent curtain to see how many people are waiting for the show, put on by the International Circus, set up in the shanty town of Puente Piedra on the outskirts of Lima, Peru. Balta, a 12-year old clown whose parents work at the circus setting up and breaking down the encampment, was discovered by the circus two years ago when he was performing as a clown at street corners. (Photo by Martin Mejia/AP Photo)

Daredevil motorcycle rider Captain Shivam Singh (C) from the “Tornadoes” motorcycle acrobatic team of the Indian Armed Forces comes out ablaze after catching fire while riding his bike through a tunnel of fire during an attempt to break the Guinness Book of World Records in Bangalore on November 10, 2020. Shivam Singh broke the Guinness Book of World Records passing 127 m and escaped with minor injuries. (Photo by Manjunath Kiran/AFP Photo)