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)

Policemen guard Poland's Supreme Court as a protester lies on the pavement in Warsaw, Poland, on Thursday, April 22, 2021. A disputed disciplinary body within Poland's Supreme Court is examining a motion that could result in the arrest of a judge who has become a symbol of the fight for an independent judiciary. (Photo by Czarek Sokolowski/AP Photo)

Ecuadorian luthier Ivan Ibujes plays a guitar after repairing it at his shop in Quito, June 17, 2016. (Photo by Guillermo Granja/Reuters)

A baby bush-baby in a set of scales at London Zoo shortly after birth. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images). 10th August 1938

Shakira poses with French Culture Minister, Frederic Mitterrand after being honored at Hotel Majestic on January 28, 2012 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

A snowflake rests on black velvet after a snowfall in Knoxville on Tuesday, January 28, 2014. (Photo by Adam Lau/News Sentinel)

Chinese rescuers carry an injuried resident after an earthquake hit an area of Ludian county in Zhaotong in southwest China's Yunnan province on August 3, 2014. At least 300 people were killed and 1,300 injured after a strong earthquake hit southwest China's mountainous Yunnan province, state media said. The quake in Zhaotong prefecture, in the province's northeast, toppled buildings and left residents frantically searching for survivors beneath the rubble, images on social media showed. (Photo by AFP Photo)