North Korean soldiers wave along the Yalu River, near the North Korean town of Sinuiju, opposite to the Chinese border city of Dandong October 7, 2014. (Photo by Jacky Chen/Reuters)

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)

In this February 19, 2017 photo, a couple dances during the “If you don't give me....then you lend me” Carnival street party on Ipanema beach, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The typical view of Carnival in Brazil is anything goes, with no headdress too big, no outfit too small, no song too ribald, but this year some organizers of the world's best known party are drawing the line at lyrics that are sexist, homophobic or racist. (Photo by Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo)

A journalist operate a harness with multiple recording devices capable of recording and live streaming outside the Great Hall of the People where the opening session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) was held in Beijing, China, Friday, March 3, 2017. Thousands of delegates have gathered at the Chinese capital for the opening of the annual session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, which advises the rubberstamp parliament, whose annual session begins Sunday. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

A mural signed by “TV Boy” and depicting Pope Francis and U.S. President Donald Trump kissing, is seen on a wall in downtown Rome, Italy on May 11, 2017. (Photo by Tony Gentile/Reuters)

A bonnet macaque sits on consecrated idols of snakes as it drinks milk offered by a devotee during the Hindu festival of Nag Panchami, which is celebrated by worshipping snakes to honour the serpent god, inside a temple on the outskirts of Bengaluru, India, July 27, 2017. (Photo by Abhishek N. Chinnappa/Reuters)

Members of the China Disabled Peoples Performing Art Troupe perform “My Dream” at Jorge Eliecer Gaitan Theater in Bogota on August 30, 2017. China Disabled People's Performing Art Troupe Company composed of artists with some hearing, mental, motor, visual or speech disabilities, was founded in 1987 and is currently Honorary and Goodwill Ambassadors of Unesco for its great example of inclusion. (Photo by John Vizcaino/AFP Photo)

Eight-year-old Lactatia a.k.a. Nemis Quinn Mélançon Golden gets a makeover by Ginger Minj during RuPaul's DragCon NYC 2017 at The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on September 9, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Santiago Felipe/Getty Images)