The Villarrica Volcano is seen at night in Chile, April 16, 2016. Villarrica is one of Chile's most active volcanoes. Picture taken with long exposure. (Photo by Cristobal Saavedra/Reuters)

A member of the Fientan group, a contemporary dance company of young deaf and mute people from Burkina Faso, performs during the Market for Performing Arts in Abidjan (MASA), at the Culture Palace in Abidjan, Ivory Coast on April 17, 2024. (Photo by Luc Gnago/Reuters)

“Great White Shark of Guadalupe Island”. A great white shark very quiet under the boat and a lot of fish. The sun ray lighting the head of the shark. Location: Guadalupe Island, Mexico. (Photo and caption by Marc Henauer/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

ATTENTION! All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture.

Spectators react as a competitor races past in the annual donkey festival in Salcedo, Ecuador, Saturday, September 10, 2022. (Photo by Dolores Ochoa/AP Photo)

Models wait backstage before the Heaven Gaia Autumn/Winter 2021 collection show by Xiong Ying during China Fashion Week in Beijing, China on March 25, 2021. (Photo by Tingshu Wang/Reuters)

A woman walks between Christmas trees at a Christmas market opened prior to incoming Christmas and New Year festivities in St. Petersburg, Russia, Friday, December 15, 2023. (Photo by Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo)

Floating on clear deep water and reflections near the cave entrance. Visitors can either bring their own kayaks or rent boats from the local community to paddle deep inside the cave and marvel at its wonders on March 2015 at Tham Khoun Ex, Laos. Tham Khoun Xe, commonly known as the Xe Bang Fai River Cave, in Laos, has over 15km of passages filled with awe-inspiring views and wide expanses of water. Photographer, John Spies, 59, captured scenes from the entrances of the huge underground river passages, intricate cave formations and views from a passage high above the water. The cave is formed by the Xe Bang Fai river, a major tributary of the Mekong and in the dry season can be traversed using inflatable kayaks. (Photo by John Spies/Barcroft Media/ABACAPress)

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)