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)

“The white lion is not a distinct subspecies, but a special morph with a genetic condition, leucism, that causes paler colouration akin to that of the white tiger; the condition is similar to melanism, which causes black panthers”. – Wikipedia

Photo: One of two rare white lion cubs from Mogo Zoo on New South Wales South Coast is seen at a photo call at Lavender Green, Luna Park on November 23, 2006 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

Nova Scotia Duck Tolling retriever Torrey competes in the 10th annual Petco Unleashed surfing dog contest at Imperial Beach, California August 1, 2015. Proceeds raised at the event go to benefit the San Diego Humane Society. (Photo by Mike Blake/Reuters)

A man looks on from the sea as Italian model and actress Elisa Sednaoui poses for photographers a day before the 72nd Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, September 1, 2015. Sednaoui will be hosting the opening and closing ceremonies of the film festival. (Photo by Stefano Rellandini/Reuters)

A humpead wrasse, transported from Japan's southern island of Okinawa, swims with other tropical saltwater fish on display in a tank for the Sony Aquarium 2017 exhibition in Tokyo on July 31, 2017. The Sony Aquarium 2017 exhibition, featuring marine life common to the waters around Okinawa, runs until August 13. (Photo by Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP Photo)

Dance floor atmosphere at the Daily Front Row's Fashion Media Awards – After Party at The Wooly on September 8, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images)

An Indian priest worships six-year-old Hindu girl Anushka Chetterjee dressed as the Hindu goddess Durga at a “pandal” for the celebrations of the “Durga Puja” festival in Kolkata on September 28, 2017. The five-day Durga Puja festival, which commemorates the slaying of the demon king Mahishasur by the goddess Durga, marks the triumph of good over evil. (Photo by Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP Photo)

Leigh-Anne Pinnock arriving at Gilgamesh Camden on September 30, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Flynet Pictures)