The rusty emblem of the Soviet Union is seen over the ghost town of Pripyat close to the Chernobyl nuclear plant, Ukraine, Thursday, April 15, 2021. The vast and empty Chernobyl Exclusion Zone around the site of the world’s worst nuclear accident is a baleful monument to human mistakes. Yet 35 years after a power plant reactor exploded, Ukrainians also look to it for inspiration, solace and income. (Photo by Efrem Lukatsky/AP Photo)

Su-25 jet fighters release smoke in the colours of the Russian state flag over Red Square during a flypast rehearsal ahead of a parade on Victory Day, which marks the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in Moscow, Russia on May 5, 2021. (Photo by Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)

A woman athlete aims an air rifle while competing in a local shooting championship in Yemen's Huthi rebel-held capital Sanaa on January 3, 2023. (Photo by Mohammed Huwais/AFP Photo)

A mahout paints his elephant on the eve of the annual Rath Yatra, or chariot procession, outside the Jagannath temple in Ahmedabad, India on June 19, 2023. (Photo by Amit Dave/Reuters)

People perform during the Archstoyanie 2023 festival in the village of Nikola-Lenivets, Kaluga region, Russia on July 29, 2023. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

A Chinese girl in traditional dress eats her lunch in a Five Guys restaurant in between shooting videos for her Chinese social media account on October 18, 2023 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

People watch waves crash over the sea wall in Revere, Massachusetts on January 13, 2024. The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency is reminding residents of the possibility of flooding in low-lying areas and streets as a third storm in a week batters the state. (Photo by Joseph Prezioso/AFP Photo)

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)