Young boy in a field of tall grass in the Balkan Mountains of Bulgaria. © Mirena Chavdarova/shotbywomen

Winter Sunrise over the Black Sea in Bulgaria © Mirena Chavdarova/shotbywomen

Villagers celebrate the annual winter masquerade festival in the Bulgarian village of Yardzhilovtsi. The folk tradition, which involves a ritual whereby actors dressed as bride and groom go house to h... © Jodi Hilton/shotbywomen

A moored boat and yellow buoy are lit up at night in Bulgaria. © Gerry Atkinson/shotbywomen

Pre-dawn rays of sunlight over the Atlantic Ocean at Salem Willows Park, Massachusetts © Mirena Chavdarova/shotbywomen

Early morning sun rising behind a curtain of ink-black clouds with sea birds flying over the Black Sea in Bulgaria © Mirena Chavdarova/shotbywomen

Bulgarian Orthodox celebrate the holiday of Epiphany in the village of Kalofer with an early morning ritual of live traditional music and horo (circular dance) in the icy waters of the Tundja River in... © Jodi Hilton/shotbywomen

Bulgarian Orthodox celebrate the holiday of Epiphany in the village of Kalofer with an early morning ritual of live traditional music and horo (circular dance) in the icy waters of the Tundja River in... © Jodi Hilton/shotbywomen

A girl holds freshly harvested roses in her hands near the village of Tarnichane, on June 2, 2012. Bulgaria produces 70% of the world's supply of rose oil, used in perfumes, skin creams, soaps and sup... © Jodi Hilton/shotbywomen

Roma workers use a horse cart to gather 18-20 kilo bags or harvested roses in the morning near the village of Tarnichane, on June 2, 2012. Bulgaria produces 70% of the world's supply of rose oil, used... © Jodi Hilton/shotbywomen

A group of people from the city of Kazanlak throw rose petals into the air in celebration of a bumper crop of roses. This event being a tradition of Kazanlak took place with folk dancing in a rose gar... © Jodi Hilton/shotbywomen

Local folk groups wearing costume including bright coloured head dress, participate in a traditional parade to celebrate a bumper crop of roses in the city of Kazanlak on June 3, 2012. Bulgaria pr... © Jodi Hilton/shotbywomen

Villagers celebrate the annual winter masquerade festival in the Bulgarian village of Yardzhilovtsi. The folk tradition, which involves a ritual whereby actors dressed as bride and groom go house... © Jodi Hilton/shotbywomen

Villagers dressed in folk costumes participate in the Kukeri celebration on January 1 2011, going door to door in costume, greeting the neighbours, dancing and celebrating. © Jodi Hilton/shotbywomen

A Blue Dasher Dragonfly resting on a twig in the Balkan Mountains in Bulgaria. © Mirena Chavdarova/shotbywomen

A woman in the frame of a barn door in the village of Sveta Petka, one many small Muslim villages in the Rhodope Mountains. © Jodi Hilton/shotbywomen

Nearly every day, Sabie Djikova carries 20 liters of fresh milk from her home in Ablanitsa to the station Tsvetino. © Jodi Hilton/shotbywomen

The station master stops an incoming train at Station Dolene. © Jodi Hilton/shotbywomen

Nearly every day, Sabie Djikova carries 20 liters of fresh milk from her home in Ablanitsa to the station Tsvetino. She waits in the little station before boarding the train to Velingrad.In Velingrad,... © Jodi Hilton/shotbywomen

Sabie Djikova uses a military knapsack to transport about 20 kilos of milk to the nearby station from where she catches the train to the big town of Velingrad, a 40 minute ride. © Jodi Hilton/shotbywomen

A female train conductor checks rail passes and sells tickets to a group of Pomak women heading home by train from the town of Velingrad after selling their milk and other products. Some gets a pensio... © Jodi Hilton/shotbywomen

A customer greets Sabie Djikova , a Pomak (Bulgarian Muslim) woman in front of his apartment in an apartment block in the town of Velingrad. Djikova goes door-to-door nearly every morning, delivering... © Jodi Hilton/shotbywomen

Sabie Djikova, a Pomak (Bulgarian Muslim) woman who owns cows and sells their milk, delivers bottles to customers in the town of Velingrad. © Jodi Hilton/shotbywomen

Pomak (Bulgarian Muslim) women wait for the first morning train to travel from the Tsvetino station to Velingrad, where they sell the milk and products they produce at market. © Jodi Hilton/shotbywomen

Sabie Djikova and other women disembark from a train at station Tsvetino, a station that serves several small communities that are reliant on train service. © Jodi Hilton/shotbywomen

Kristian Vaklinov, who in 2014 helped organize a petition to save the Septemvri-Dobrinishte narrow gauge railroad that crosses the Rhodope mountain and includes a stop at the highest station on the Ba... © Jodi Hilton/shotbywomen

Steam is expelled from the train's heating system as the day's first train is prepared for departure from station Velingrad for a 5:55 departure. The Rhodope Narrow Gauge railroad is the last of its k... © Jodi Hilton/shotbywomen

Engineer Valentin Petrov checks the train's engine after returning from the round trip journey (250km in total) from Septemvri to Dobrinishte. The Rhodope Narrow Gauge railroad is the last of its kind... © Jodi Hilton/shotbywomen

Sabie Djikova with her granddaughter, 5 year-old Sabie in the yard behind the house that is shared by three generations in the Rhodope village of Ablanitsa. They are Pomak, or Bulgarian-speaking Musli... © Jodi Hilton/shotbywomen

Engineers Jamal Starkov, right, from Cherna Mesta and Halil Mustafa, who come from the Muslim majority Rhodope town of Avramovo take a break at station Kostandovo. © Jodi Hilton/shotbywomen

The view from a 1965 Henschel locomotive, part of the batch of 10 narrow-gauge specific engines put into service that same year. © Jodi Hilton/shotbywomen

Sabie Djikova, a milk producer from the Rhodope mountain town of Ablanitsa, waves to the conductor as she disembarks from the train in station Tsvetino. © Jodi Hilton/shotbywomen

Sabie Djikova pours milk through a sieve to remove any impurities as she bottles it in used cola bottles before delivering it to customers in the market town of Velingrad. © Jodi Hilton/shotbywomen

A woman accompanies her cow down the main road of the Rhodope mountain village of Ablanitsa. © Jodi Hilton/shotbywomen

Mysa Djikov, one of Sabie's sons, uses a heavy Russian truck, right, while working as a lumberjack. © Jodi Hilton/shotbywomen