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)

Fans dressed up in costume await the cast members on the red carpet at the world premiere of the film "The Avengers: Endgame" in Los Angeles, California, April 22, 2019. (Photo by Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)

An orphan plays with her new hula hoop during the food and toy distribution, for total about 500 orphans in 11 orphanages, by National Muslim COVID-19 Response Committee to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday which marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan at Good hope markazil Banatil Islamia orphans centre in Nairobi, Kenya, on May 25, 2020. (Photo by Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP Photo)

Trialist Pavel Prikhodko attempts to pull an An-2 plane as a cat walks nearby during a charity event near the village of Tatarka in Stavropol Region, Russia on December 27, 2020. (Photo by Eduard Korniyenko/Reuters)

A black-winged stilt patrols a reservoir in Jezreel Valley in Israel early April 2023. Their eggs are a golden colour mottled with brown. (Photo by Itamar Procaccia/Solent News)

Fumie Takino, 89, founder of a senior cheer squad called Japan Pom Pom, and other members pose for commemorative photos before filming a dance routine for an online performance in Tokyo, Japan, April 12, 2021. “It's dancing; moving your body is nice”, Takino said. “And the costumes are unbelievably showy. Some people join just so they can wear them”. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

A singer drinks from a huge bowl of beer on-stage as he pays tribute to the customers after performing at an entertainment club in Beijing, on May 8, 2014. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)

A man takes a picture of models as they pose next to Cosmis Racing Wheels products during the 2016 Moscow International Auto Salon in Moscow, Russia, August 26, 2016. (Photo by Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters)