Autumn colors border a road leading through a small valley near Blankenburg am Harz, Germany, Wednesday, November 1, 2023. (Photo by Matthias Schrader/AP Photo)

A crowd of people gathered at the seaside of Udaipur, Digha, India before a cloud burst of rain on May 21, 2022. India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted that the Monsoon rain will likely arrive a week early this year due to twin cyclones, Asani and Karim. (Photo by Avishek Das/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

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 horse trainer takes his horse into the water at Pebble Beach on June 28, 2024 in Bridgetown, Barbados. The swimming horses of Barbados offer a unique and remarkable experience at Pebbles Beach, where racehorses from the nearby Garrison Savannah enjoy their morning swim almost daily between 5:30 am and 7 am. During this ritual, horses swim out surprisingly far to the moored boats before returning to shore, with some staying longer in the water if recovering from injury or soreness after a race. Visitors can observe the horses' individual personalities as they swim and interact with the water, but are advised to respect the guidance of the grooms and maintain a safe distance, as horses can behave unpredictably, especially if frightened. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

Ruins of a building are seen in the old village of Belchite, in northern Spain, November 13, 2016. Almost 80 years ago Tomas Ortin fled under the cover of night from his home in the small town of Belchite on Spain's northern plains to escape with hundreds of others from one of the bloodiest battles of the country's civil war. At 94 years old, Ortin now lives just across the road from Belchite, which has lain in ruins since Republican forces attacked it, a symbol of the destruction caused by the 1936-1939 war in which an estimated 500,000 people died. (Photo by Andrea Comas/Reuters)

A woman aims a World War II machine gun at a military show during celebration of the Defenders of the Fatherland Day in St.Petersburg, Russia, Tuesday, February 23, 2016. The day, celebrated in Russia on February 23, honors the nation's military and is a nationwide holiday. (Photo by Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo)

Revelers celebrate during fireworks marking the start of the New Year on Copacabana beach on January 1, 2017 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Brazilian revelers traditionally dress in white to honor the New Year's holiday along with the Brazilian Goddess of the Sea- Iemanja. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)