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. (© Amos Chapple)

Geege this is truly gorgeous! Thank you for sharing... World's Largest Enclosed Ferris Wheel, you say?

I wonder if the ferris wheel is depicted in their currency. That would be very cool!

That WOULD be very cool!

Inside the Oguzkent Hotel, in the center of Ashgabat. (© Amos Chapple) #

The Monument to Neutrality featuring (and erected by) former president Saparmurat Niyazov. Public buses are routed up an eight-lane boulevard to its base, otherwise it stands mostly deserted. Despite the scarcity of visitors, soldiers at the feet of the structure stand at attention throughout the day. (© Amos Chapple) #

So majestic!

Definition of!

Left: Ashgabat Tele-radio Center, in the hills overlooking Ashgabat. Right: A holdover from the Soviet era, Saparmurat Niyazov had been promoted within the communist party for his deference (Moscow was worried about nationalist sentiments in the distant Central Asian republics). After the collapse of the soviet union Niyazov found himself at the helm of an independent nation and a cult of personality. Gas revenues funded a descent into an increasingly bizarre dictatorship -- dogs were banned, hospitals and libraries were closed outside of the capital, and months of the year were renamed after members of his family. (© Amos Chapple) #