I had great expectations of Western Mindoro, but was a little bit disappointed. Where, maybe uninformed, I had expected tropical wilderness, I found bone-dry burning hot dust roads through a landscape so deforested that I felt I could as well be in Arabia. It was hot!The central mountains were always there to the east, but there was no forest.
Bike riding-wise the road felt long as I could never speed up. I recall though only a single place which was really difficult. The bridge crossing a stream say thirty minutes north of San Jose was under repair (and seemed to have been so for quite while). A detour had been made which involved a 15-20 meter long river crossing. As usual it was impossible to gauge the depth as well as the condition of the river bed - the stones could be the size of potatoes or the size of watermelons (in which case I would surely tip over). It was also very difficult to see the best crossing point. I got over, but the engine was very near to conking out.
What did I see? I recalled passing a rather depressing mangyan barrio, a more interesting sight of small tribe trading woven baskets with a truck in one of the few forested areas, a penal colony south of Sta. Cruz, the usual collection of mangy dogs...
What can you expect anyway when you are in a hurry? Sablayan is supposedly a very nice spot if you make it out to the waterfront. There is apparantly a very good resort out on an island outside the town. Then further out in the ocean, a bit to the south, you'll find Apo Reef, a famous dive site. A decade ago blasted to pieces by dynamite fishermen, but today again teeming with marine life.
Mamburao is the capital of western Mindoro, and I expected to find a good resort there. I arrived well before dark and had some time to look around. I did not find much, and had to settle for something rather basic without any food service (and only warm beer which after all was quite tolerable since I had not had a meal, and as far as I remember, not even a drink since I left San Jose in the morning). In the end the owner cooked sinigang for me and it tasted fantastic: a soup with a few fish filets, various green stuffs neatly chopped, vinegar, tamarinds and a few other things.
