La Tierra de los Yachaqs - translated as "The land of the wise" - is the name given to the community tourism Peru initiative in the Sacred Valley. I had a chance to try out several of their responsible tourism village experiences that allow an authentic insight into Andean life. Community Tourism Peru: Andean Life in the Sacred Valley Working with five communities, the mission of La Tierra de los Yachaqs  is to preserve the history and traditions of local communities while enabling them to support their economy with responsible, authentic and high-quality tourism. This consists of travellers visiting the communities and participating in local customs, traditions and practices. Read more on the Route of the Achupalla gentle hike and weaving experience in Amaru village. Economic empowerment through tourism The community tourism peru initiative empowers locals to actually design and operate visits to their community. They must decide upon exactly what areas of their culture should be shown throughout the visit and are in control of the planning, booking and guiding.... they're even trained to recieve and respond email bookings! The name is closely tied in because the focus is on local people themselves having the wisdom to know what aspects of their culture are the most important to show to travellers, and to explain this properly. When compared to other projects in the region, where external observers march in and dictate what the visit should look like (which unfortunately happens all too often), the intrinsic value of La Tierra de los Yachaqs becomes apparant. That the word Yachaqs is a Quechua word reinforces ideas of pre-Columbian heritage, rooting the project firmly in the Sacred Valley and focusing entirely on local communities. The Route of the Acupalla with Tierra de los Yachaqs A Warm Community welcome On this particular sunny