Dutch driver Hans Jos Liefhebber on his KTM drives next to a seal during the fifth stage of the 2018 Dakar Rally, between San Juan de Marcona and Arequipa, on the beach of Puerto Lomas, Peru, 10 January 2018. The 2018 Dakar says goodbye to the dunes with its fifth and final stage over the Peruvian desert and begins to take height as it enters the Andean mountain range, heading for Bolivia. (Photo by David Fernandez/EPA/EFE)

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 BASE jumper is pictured against the skyline shrouded in a thick haze during the Kuala Lumpur Tower International Jump in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 02 October 2015. More than 100 BASE jumpers take part in this extreme sport event, which enters its 15th year. The haze hovering over Malaysia is caused by the ongoing plantation and forest fires in the nearby Indonesian provinces of Sumatra and Kalimantan. (Photo by Fazry Ismail/EPA)

Palestinian protesters take cover amid clashes with Israeli security forces during a raid in the old city of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank, on May 9, 2023. The Israeli army said its troops had entered Nablus in the northern West Bank, with residents telling AFP they heard explosions during the raid. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said its medics treated 145 injuries in Nablus, the majority from tear gas inhalation while a dozen people were shot with live fire. (Photo by Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP Photo)

Palestinian queue to fill containers with water in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on October 14, 2023, as fighting between Israel and the Hamas movement continues for the eighth consecutive day and Israel has cut off water, fuel and food supplies from the enclave. Thousands of people, both Israeli and Palestinians have died since October 7, 2023, after Palestinian Hamas militants based in the Gaza Strip, entered southern Israel in a surprise attack leading Israel to declare war on Hamas in Gaza on October 8. (Photo by Mahmud Hams/AFP Photo)

A child coughs as migrants and refugees run away after Macedonian police fired tear gas at hundreds of Iraqi and Syrian migrants who tried to break through the Greek border fence in Idomeni, on February 29, 2016. Greek police said more than 6,000 people were massed at the border, in a buildup triggered by Austria and Balkan states capping the numbers of migrants entering their territory. (Photo by Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP Photo)

On September 1, 2004, Chechen militants stormed an elementary school in the town of Beslan in the Russian republic of North Ossetia. They took 1,100 teachers, children, and their relatives hostage, demanding the withdrawal of federal forces from Chechnya as a condition for their release. On September 3, 2004, Russian security forces stormed the building, resulting in a battle in which more than 330 hostages died, including 186 children. Here: A man assists two young hostages who managed to escape from the school building after special forces entered the school in Beslan, North Ossetia, Friday 03 September 2004. (Photo by Yuri Kochetkov/EPA)

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper shows off his socks--one with Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and the other with Republican candidate Donald Trump – before entering his former brewpub for a book signing event to mark the release of his autobiography Thursday, May 26, 2016, in Denver. Hickenlooper, who is term-limited, is doing book talk rounds this week, reviving speculation that he is positioning himself to join Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign ticket. (Photo by David Zalubowski/AP Photo)