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)

Kenichi Ito runs on his arms and legs on a race course on his way to setting the Guinness World Record fastest time for the 100-meter dash on all fours at Komazawa Olympic Park Stadium in Tokyo Thursday, November 14, 2013. The 30-year-old Japanese finished in 16.87 seconds Thursday, shaving more than half a second off his 2012 run of 17.47. (Photo by Shizuo Kambayashi/AP Photo)

People take photos in a field of Yellow Desert Sunflowers as wildflowers begin to bloom in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in California after a record-setting wet winter of rain, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California, U.S. March 20, 2024. (Photo by David Swanson/Reuters)

A woman wearing a face mask walk through Shinjuku area on January 07, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is set to declare a state of emergency in Tokyo and neighboring three prefectures, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba on Thursday, following the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in the region. Tokyo saw over 2000 new cases per day for the first time on January 7, 2021. (Photo by Yuichi Yamazaki/Getty Images)

A shopper gets caught in a heavy downpour of rain on Oxford Street, London on June 27, 2020, as sunshine and showers are forecast for much of England and Wales on Saturday, with temperatures expected to hover around 22°C (71.6F). (Photo by Dominic Lipinski/PA Images via Getty Images)

Myanmar's Theiri Aung, seen in action during the women's sepak takraw semifinal against Vietnam, at the Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, on May 17, 2022. (Photo by Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters)

Dawlish Carnival 50th anniversary pram race featuring the famous Dawlish Black Swan in England on August 15, 2023. (Photo by nidpor/StockimoNews/Alamy Live News)

A worker of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) collects data for the digital census, in Karachi, Pakistan, 01 March 2023. PBS has launched a digital census and portal to allow citizens to submit their data. The census that began on 01 March, will be used for the upcoming general elections. So far, 4.3 million people have registered. (Photo by Shahzaib Akber/EPA/EFE)