Quick Hike in Tila Pilon Hills DRT

 Coming from SJDM, it took us 1 1/2hrs to get to DRT. It’s not that far but the roads are narrow. Luckily, there’s no traffic so our travel was smooth. You know you’re when you see a huge sign outside the place.

Upon arrival, we paid the 500 for the hiking and guide (50/head for hiking and 300 for the guide) then, JR, our guide, brief us regarding CLAYGO and not leaving any trash.

There are actually 2 paths: the easy one only has 2 ascending trail and the other one has five. We took the easy one but we paid 60 and another 15 to pass by private properties.

I’m not sure how long it took us to get to the top of the hill but the view is indeed amazing. It was easy even for beginners and even our son enjoyed the quick hike.

So, of course, after the tiring activity, we went straight to Tila Pilon Cafe to have lunch. It’s our sweet reward for making it to the top 😁 My son said the cafe offers top notch food and take note, he has high standard when it comes to food. The coffee ranges from 90-150 and the meal ranges from 180-250.

We’re planning to go back sometime to have picnic and just roam around. Even if you don’t go hiking, the place itself is worth visiting. You can just spend an afternoon relaxing and having coffee with a nice backdrop of Sierra Madre.

As of this writing, here’s their rate:

Table rental - 50

Hammock rental - 50

Parking - Car 50 / Motor 20

Biking - 50 (30mins) / 80 (1hr)

Hiking

50 per head

300 for a guide (group of 5)

Overnight camping

100 per head

800 for a guide

Tent rental - 400 ( 2 pax)

Pitching fee - 100

A Piece of South Korea in Bulacan

My mom messaged me that they're going to visit and asked me if there's a park near our house. The nearest in our place is Ecopark but they've been there a couple of times and I think she wants a place she haven't been to yet. Then I remembered I saw on the internet this Korean Temple in Bocaue. It's actually an hour drive from our place but it's the nearest I can think of so I showed her the photos and she said she's good with that.

The following day, we left our house at almost 1PM. We arrived there at 2:10PM. We parked at The Parish of Sto. Cristo. It's still a 5-minute walk to the Shrine of St. Andrew Kim but there are trikes lined up at the parking area that could take you to the shrine if you don't want to walk 400 meters. They charge P10/head.

Going to the shrine itself was a challenge for me because of my knee surgery. I didn't expect that we have to take a trike then walk a narrow street just to get to it. But I think it's worth visiting this place once to relax, meditate, and have cool selfies. You'll indeed get a taste of Korea in this hidden part of Bocaue.

The Shrine is open from Tuesday to Sunday, 10-12in the morning and 2-4 in the afternoon.
We were able to get to the place through Waze, but the route is easy if you're coming from Manila. You can just take McArthur Highway or NLEX Marilao Exit.