A British couple drink hot chocolate at Chillout cafe in Dubai May 12, 2013. Chillout, owned by UAE's Sharaf Group, is the first ice lounge in the Middle East, with temperatures set at –6 degrees Celsius (21 degrees Farenheit). The cafe, with its illuminated interiors, curtains, paintings and seating arrangements, is all made of carved ice and frozen sculptures. (Photo by Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters)

An Indian couple stained with colored powder enjoys a loving moment during the Holi festival celebrations in Chennai, India, 18 March 2022. Holi, also known as the “Festival Of Colors” is an ancient Indian Hindu festival symbolizing the victory of good over evil and marking the arrival of spring. It is held with joyful gatherings during which revelers cover each other in colored powders. (Photo by Idrees Mohammed/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)

Same-sеx marriage supporters kiss outside the Legislative Yuan Friday, May 17, 2019, in Taipei, Taiwan after the legislature passed a law allowing same-sеx marriage in a first for Asia. The vote Friday allows same-sеx couples full legal marriage rights, including in areas such as taxes, insurance and child custody. (Photo by Chiang Ying-ying/AP Photo)

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 dead green sea turtle is collected from the beach at the Khor Kalba Conservation Reserve, in the city of Kalba, on the east coast of the United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, February 1, 2022. A staggering 75% of all dead green turtles and 57% of all loggerhead turtles in Sharjah had eaten marine debris, including plastic bags, bottle caps, rope and fishing nets, a new study published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin. The study seeks to document the damage and danger of the throwaway plastic that has surged in use around the world and in the UAE, along with other marine debris. (Photo by Kamran Jebreili/AP Photo)

In this file photo taken on Sunday, August 2, 2020, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, candidate for the presidential elections greets people waving old Belarus flags during a meeting to show her support, in Brest, 326 km (203,7 miles) southwest of Minsk, Belarus. Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko faces a perfect storm as he seeks a sixth term in the election held Sunday, Aug. 9, 2020 after 26 years in office. Mounting public discontent over the worsening economy and his government’s bungled handling of the coronavirus pandemic has fueled the largest opposition rallies since the Soviet collapse. (Photo by Sergei Grits/AP Photo)