A couple takes a selfie as Hoa Binh hydroelectric power plant opens the flood gates after a heavy rainfall caused by Talas typhoon in Hoa Binh province, outside Hanoi, Vietnam July 20, 2017. (Photo by Reuters/Kham)

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 man pulls a cart with collapsed cardboard boxes past boutiques in the Sinchon district in Seoul, May 5, 2015. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

A person waving the rainbow flag runs on the pitch as the players line up for the national anthems the UEFA EURO 2020 Group F football match between Germany and Hungary at the Allianz Arena in Munich on June 23, 2021. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Pool via AFP Photo)

Member of the Imperio da Tijuca Samba School during the 2019 Carnival Series A parade in the Marques do Sapucaí Sambadrome in the city of Rio de Janeiro this Sunday, March 3, 2019. (Photo by William Volcov/Brazil Photo Press)

A woman along with her children carry hay to feed cattle in Sanjar Chang village, Mirpurkhas district in Sindh province on April 9, 2023. (Photo by Asif Hassan/AFP Photo)

A girl with face pantings (C) looks on during a demonstration to mark al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day, after Friday prayers, in Kuala Lumpur on April 14, 2023. (Photo by Mohd Rasfan/AFP Photo)

Participants take part in a high-wheel bicycle race in the Frederick county, in Maryland, United States on July 15, 2023. (Photo by Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)