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)

American actress, singer, and dancer Ariana DeBose attends The 2022 Met Gala Celebrating “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 02, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by David Fisher/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A woman looks at The Empire State Building and the New York Skyline during a preview of SUMMIT One Vanderbilt observation deck, which is spread across the top four floors of the new One Vanderbilt tower in Midtown Manhattan, in New York City, New York, U.S., October 18, 2021. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)

A police officer detains a person during protest by supporters of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan against his arrest, in Karachi, Pakistan, 09 May 2023. Khan, the chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, was taken into custody by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on 09 May outside the Islamabad High Court, where he had arrived to appeal for bail in multiple cases filed against him. The arrest came after Khan's ouster from power in April 2020 following a failed vote of confidence in parliament. (Photo by Rehan Khan/EPA)

This undated handout image courtesy of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance shows “Pat”, a Pacific pocket mouse fondly named after actor Sir Patrick Stewart. A mouse named after “Star Trek” actor Patrick Stewart is officially the world's oldest in captivity, a US zoo has announced Pat the Pacific Pocket Mouse – the smallest species of mouse in North America – bagged the title when he hit nine years and 209 days old on February 8, 2023. (Photo by Ken Bohn/San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance via AFP Photo)

Schoolchildren play music to entertain and inspire people on their way home from work Tuesday, March 29, 2016 in Pyongyang, North Korea. North Korea has called a 70-day loyalty drive areas of a major congress of the ruling party scheduled for early May and everyone from students to coal miners have been mobilized nationwide to demonstrate their devotion to the leadership. (Photo by Eric Talmadge/AP Photo)

The new EVR system which allows the recording of television programmes which can then be watched at the owner's discretion. The new Teleplayer has been produced in partnership with Rank Bush Murphy Ltd and EVR and has enormous potential. 21st September 1970. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)

A forest on a mountain slope next to a township is seen on fire in Dharmsala, India, Monday, April. 25, 2022. Dry pine needles covering the forest floor and high daytime temperatures result in many forest fires in summer months. (Photo by Ashwini Bhatia/AP Photo)