A giant river otter, the world's largest otter species, looks out of its enclosure at the newly completed River Safari in Singapore, on March 25, 2013. (Photo by Wong Maye-E/Associated Press)

Peter Ver Ploeg carries Virginia Petrovek through the mud pit during the North American Wife Carrying Championship, Saturday, October 8, 2016, at the Sunday River Ski Resort in Newry, Maine. (Photo by Robert F. Bukaty/AP Photo)

A man dressed as a Santa Claus poses at the front of the Kollhoff Tower at Potsdamer Platz square in Berlin December 14, 2014. (Photo by Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters)

Camille Kovalev and Pavel Kovalev of France compete in the Pairs Short Program during the ISU World Figure Skating Championships at Saitama Super Arena on March 22, 2023 in Saitama, Japan. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

Vegas Golden Knights center Mattias Janmark (26) punches Nashville Predators center Nick Cousins (21) in a fight during the third period at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 24, 2022. (Photo by Stephen R. Sylvanie/USA TODAY Sports)

China's Zheng Si Wei, right, and Huang ya Qiong play against Thailand's R. Makkasasithorn and J. Sudjaipraparat during their mixed doubles match at the Badminton Asia Championships 2022 at Muntinlupa, Philippines on Tuesday, April 26, 2022. (Photo by Aaron Favila/AP Photo)

St. Senans' Aoife Allen competing in the Women's 3000m Steeplechase at Morton Stadium in Santry, Co. Dublin ob August 30, 2020 during the 2020 National Track & Field Championships. (Photo by Morgan Treacy/INPHO/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)