We got a lift to Batangas Pier from a
couple in their late 50s called Vic and Olive Hernandez. They own
jewelery stores, but Vic does a bit of driving on the side. He had
brought Olive along with him on this trip so that he would have some
company on the way back. It was like being out with a favourite
auntie and uncle. Uncle Vic made endeeringly corny jokes and teased
toll booth staff and Auntie Olive “navigated”. I assume that
derecho means the same in Tagalog as it does in Spanish, but if we
had actually taken Olive's advice “derecho derecho” we would have
ended up on the wrong side of Luzon.
Vic and Olive dropped us at Batangas
Pier. It was more like a giant ferry terminal which I guess isn't
surprising. With over 7000 islands in the Philippines, they need a
lot of boats. We bought tickets from a company called Commandos who
ferried us and 4 other couples to the island of Mindoro. They dropped
us off outside the resort that David had booked us into.
