Tacloban City, Philippines

On the northeast coast, TACLOBAN is associated by most Filipinos with that tireless collector of shoes, Imelda Marcos, who was born a little south of here in the small coastal town of Tolosa to a humble family called Romualdez. The airport has been renamed Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport, and numerous streets and buildings bear the same name. In her youth, Imelda was a local beauty queen, and referred to herself in later life as "the rose of Tacloban".

Tacloban is a busy, dirty city, with most activity centered around the port and the market. There are few tourist attractions, though if you are here for a day or two you'll find the city has everything you need: some good accommodation, numerous ticket outlets for onward journeys, and banks and restaurants huddled in the compact centre to the south of Magsaysay Boulevard, which runs along the shore with views of southwest Samar. The city's major fiesta is the Tacloban Festival in the last week of June, kicking off with the Subiran Regatta, a boat race held at the eastern entrance of the San Juanico Strait. Tacloban is also a good starting point for the Sohoton National Park in neighbouring Samar.

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