Making Nepal My Home

Born in Coventry, England, Juliette Cunliffe (ALAM, JD, BDC)  has led a remarkable life and now lives a long way from her birthplace, on a mountainside overlooking a magnificent Himalayan range in Nepal.

Following a private and grammar school education she qualified at Drama School, then worked at Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre and did voice-over work for the BBC. But theatre work was unreliable so she joined the Berlitz Schools of Languages as an English teacher, with the intention of staying only three months until the next theatre season came around. Her life was about to speed off in another direction. She loved the work so much that she stayed for 17 years, initially teaching in London and Paris, then taking on a high-profile job in Sales and Marketing for which she learned Arabic. After 6 years she became Berlitz’ School Director in Birmingham.

By now Juliette had become heavily involved in the world of pedigree dogs and after a nasty spell of ill-health decided she should re-think her life and do what she had come to love best, being with dogs, writing and travelling; her work with Berlitz was not allowing her this flexibility.

Travelling all over the world, Juliette judges dogs at International Championship level. She specialises particularly in Tibetan and Asian breeds, but has a deep affection for Sighthounds too, which she also judges at Championship shows. Her show dogs have been Afghan Hounds, Deerhounds, Whippets and Lhasa Apsos, three of which now live with her in Nepal.

Her penchant for writing, coupled with her deep knowledge of dogs, made her an instant success as an author. Book contracts have simply flown in and she now has 52 books published in English, several of them also with US, German, Spanish and Russian versions. She also contributes regularly to various canine magazines published throughout the world and has gained a reputation as one of the world’s foremost canine historians. A new venture for Juliette is the launch of an EBook site at www.dogebooks.org

Since the 1980s Juliette has regularly visited India and Nepal, but as the millennium turned she stepped off the plane in Kathmandu and found herself saying aloud, “I’m home”. Something was telling her that one day she would move to a new life in Nepal. In 2005 she met her Nepali partner, Dibya, who had recently bought a plot of land and was starting to build Peace Dragon Lodge. A few months down the line they decided to go into partnership and early last year this remarkable lodge and restaurant opened to the public. There are wonderful views all over Nepal, but amongst places to say and to eat, this has to rank amongst the very best, with a magnificent view of mountains spanning 180 degrees of the 360 degree view from the rooftop restaurant. It is a veritable feast for the eyes. You can read more about Peace Dragon Lodge and see some of the remarkable images by visiting www.peacedragonlodge.com

Before moving to Nepal Juliette was UK Coordinator for the Kathmandu Animal Treatment Centre (KAT) and in Pokhara became a Founder of the Himalayan Animal Rescue Team (HART) which does some remarkable work to protect and help the country’s domestic animals, particularly dogs. Learn about HART’s activities at www.himalayananimalrescueteam.com

You can also visit Juliette at www.juliettecunliffe.org