Approximate distance: 30 Km.
It is intended to make it in a morning or an afternoon, and combined with some short hike or meal in one of the places they passed.
We went out from Piornedo in the direction of Leon (turn right below the fountain). The first stop is Suarbol. It has an interesting Romanesque church and some beautiful corners.
We continue to climb up, we leave the Campa de Cespedosa behind and we will see the Balouta directional sign. If the day is clear, before picking up to Balouta, we will go to the peak of the port (900 meters direction Ponferrada) to admire the views of the Ancares Valleys, Balouta y Suarbol, and then we will return to the crossing of Balouta.
Also Balouta is well worth a stop, if it’s posible you can visit any Palloza and the Center for Rural Tourism, called Alexo’s house, which prepares high quality cold meat, and there are some pictures in which you can admire how it was the village years ago.
We continue down to the Rao Valley, admiring the landscape, until we reach the Coro de Rao directional sign, where we stop again.
We can park the car at the entrance, because the roads are not very wide, and go walking. The paths were repaired recently, now they have street lighting. Today this village is one of the highland sights that is worth visiting and even having a relaxing drink at Barullo.
We return to the car and retraced our steps to Murias Rao, where the villaje ends. There, we just left the road and turn right to Pandozarco.
Along the way we can contemplate Murias Rock (if we’re lucky someone can tell us some legend about that rock, the popular oral tradition is very rich but it’s disappearing with the elderly).
Padozarco was the height of Murias, where most of the families lived during the summer … There were Pallozas, that had been disappearing, but it continues to be located in a unique place.
We continue to climb up until we reach Suarbol road, by which we came before, and come back, to Piornedo.