September began with painting the museum and organising the space ready for the Shipka Fest (details of which you can find in a previous post). The fest was a great success mixing traditional methods with modern society, we learned a lot!
After the fest came the clean-up, volunteers worked with organisers to move sound equipment, collect rubbish, recycle beer bottles, and ensure the space was left as clean as before.
Once the space was cleaned, we took the weekend to explore more of 
the great Bulgarian wilderness, this time at Botev Peak. We took a train from Kazanlak to Kalofer, hiking from the train station to the town. Luckily, we managed to hitchhike from the town to the start of the trail, without it we would not have had enough energy for the 5 hours of climbing left ahead of us.
We spent the night at the Rai Hut, 
rising before sunrise to hike the Tarzan path to the summit of the mountain. We got to the summit just as it was starting to rain, had a rest, and then continued the way we had come, past the Rai Hut to the start of the trail. Luckily, we managed to hitchhike from Kalofer to Shipka, many thanks to our willing driver! It had been a very long day!
September saw the arrival of two new volunteers, Anne and Fleur. Together we have hiked the Shipka pass, sang love songs from the Buzludzha, picnicked at the Koprinka Dam, an
d started learning the theory behind permaculture.
All in all a very successful month.
Bring on October!