A military guard observes from a watch tower at the Combinado del Este prison during a media tour in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, April 9, 2013. Cuban authorities led foreign journalists through the maximum security prison, the largest in the Caribbean country that houses 3,000 prisoners. Cuba says they have 200 prisons across the country, including five that are maximum security. (Photo by Franklin Reyes/AP 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)

A brown capuchin monkey holds a fruit in the Botanic Garden of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on July 5, 2013. (Photo by Pablo Porciuncula/AFP Photo)

A street side fruit vendor has his face covered as a precaution against the coronavirus in Kolkata, India, Tuesday, July 21, 2020. With a surge in coronavirus cases in the past few weeks, state governments in India have been ordering focused lockdowns in high-risk areas to slow down the spread of infections. (Photo by Bikas Das/AP Photo)

A man rides a golden motorbike on a street in Bangkok, Thailand on August 14, 2020. (Photo by Jorge Silva/Reuters)

A child in colorful kimono walks at Tokyo's Asakusa district on the occasion of Shichigosan celebration Thursday, October 22, 2020. The festival celebrates children aged three, five and seven for their well-being. (Photo by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)

Kashmiri women walk in a garden covered with fallen Chinar leaves on the outskirts of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, November 4, 2020. Kashmiris collect fallen leaves in autumn to make charcoal for use during winters. (Photo by Dar Yasin/AP Photo)

A family poses for photos near a dinosaur exhibits along the Changi Jurassic Mile as it is light up for Christmas near Changi airport in Singapore on December 8, 2020. (Photo by Tim Chong/Reuters)