Maria Julia Mantilla, the 20-year-old winner of Miss World 2004, returned to her native Peru amid scenes of wild celebration. Hundreds of thousands of people, flocked to the airport in Lima, to catch a glimpse of their new national heroine.
The following day, Maju, as she is affectionately known, received a special award from the Prime Minster of Peru and later, at a meeting with the President of Peru, it was announced that she was to made an Ambassador of her homeland. How is that for a life-changing 48 hours!
Five weeks after claiming her crown, Maju was off to China and the start of her world tour. In the country's capital, Beijing, she took part in an important press conference and then, just days later, launched a Chinese Aids Awareness initiative. Miss World is a role model and can play a vital part in ensuring that the right message gets the right audience. In this instance the target group was the young people of China, and the message, from the Health Ministry of China and Sohu.com was that Aids, according to the latest figures from the World Heath Organisation, affects women as much as men. Hundreds of members of the media were there, and Miss World, Maju, made an enormous contribution, one that was backed by Julia Morley.
Maju's country was justly proud of her and who better to promote their beautiful country than the girl who, in such a short space of time, had done so much to get her homeland noticed. So, back at home, she starred in a special series of television commercials, promoting Peru before jetting off to Miami to put in a guest appearance on the popular Don Francisco Show.
From there it was back on another plane, to Iowa to present the 24-hour Telethon which raises huge sums of money every year for Variety, The Children's Charity. With Maju taking part, the event the amount pledged was over $400,000 dollars - a tremendous achievement without question.
It must have seemed like Maju was living from airport to airport, and to a degree that is true. But every trip was different, and every fund-raiser she attended important because ultimately it would make a real difference to the less lucky. Without a break in her schedule, Maju left in Iowa and headed straight to Houston for the Unicef Tsunami Dinner. All in all, Maju's whistle-stop tour of the USA resulted in over $5 million being raised for good causes.
Russia was the next stop, then the beautiful city of Prague in the Czech Republic - where, as a first-time visitor, she was shown some of the important historic sights. Welcoming her to his city was, the Minister of Culture said, the most pleasant duty he had performed since he came to office. China and Indonesia came quickly after, with a stop in Hong Kong, with Julia Morley to meet victims of the tsunami disaster.
A well-earned rest - although just two days of it - at the glorious Sheraton Sanya Resort (often referred to as 'The Home of Miss World') gave Maju a bit of a breather to get herself ready for the next round, that included an audience with the President of Indonesia and an evening fund-raiser where again people turned out in great numbers and with open cheque books. And that, says Maju, is what it is all about and the measure of your success.
In early June of her reign, it was announced that Miss World would take part in a challenge of some enormity - a mountain climb in Tibet. And it wasn't a little mountain or a casual hike - it was a strenuous journey up the 6,026-metre Qi-Zi, as part of a star-studded expedition team, who together, were working to raise funds for education and health care for Tibet's children. The team Maju was to join included celebrities, models and leading businessmen. She knew the training would be rigorous and she learned fast that to succeed on this type of mission you have to be tough and be able to work with the rest of your team.
With the forthcoming challenge very much on her mind, as well as strenuous ongoing training, Maju managed to fit into her schedule visits to London for a fund-raising event - a Tribute to Pavarotti - which raised over £300,000 for the Red Cross.
Another important occasion around then was Maju's 21st birthday. Not for Miss World a simple party with friends and family - Maju's coming of age was celebrated in great style with a surprise banquet in Wenzhou, China. A three-tiered birthday cake ablaze with candles was shared with some of the city's leading dignitaries who joined Julia Morley to sing Happy Birthday to Maria Julia - in English and in Chinese.
But partying had to put on one side after Maju's birthday and the training was stepped up in preparation for the climb.
Maju finally arrived at base camp with Julia Morley. At 4800 meters, and surrounded by huge mountains and glorious scenery, it was the launch pad for the assault on the peak. Despite the severe conditions moral was high among the team members and Maju was confident that she would reach the summit and wear the crown for the world to see, and claim her place in the Guinness Book of Records.
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