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)

Recording artist Orisha Sound performs at the Sting 2014 concert in Kingston, December 26, 2014. Picture taken December 26, 2014. (Photo by Gilbert Bellamy/Reuters)

In this Wednesday, September 17, 2014 photo, the sun shines over a field of sunflowers in Walkill, N.Y. (Photo by John DeSanto/AP Photo/Times Herlad-Record)

Skiers and snow boarders descend from a slope as they attempt to break the record for mass skiing in swimming suits at Rosa Khutor resort near Sochi, Russia, April 9, 2016. (Photo by Kazbek Basayev/Reuters)

American singer Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini, known professionally as Doja Cat attends the 63rd Annual GRAMMY Awards at Los Angeles Convention Center on March 14, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

Drag Queens set a Guinness World Record for the longest feather boa at 1.2 miles, along 42 St, in Times Square in New York, U.S., June 20, 2019. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)

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)

Elephants feast on fruits and vegetables during the elephant buffet prior to the start of the 2016 King's Cup Elephant Polo event in Bangkok, Thailand, 10 March 2016. The annual charity event, now in its 14th edition, runs until 13 March and will involve 18 elephants brought from tourist trekking camps in Pattaya as well as some unemployed in Surin. A total of 10 teams encompassing over 40 players will take part in the event directed at raising funds to improve the lives of elephants and elephant conservation. (Photo by Diego Azubel/EPA)