In August 1911, on the quay, Alexandra promised her "understanding husband" to return to him within eighteen months... But it would be fourteen years later, in May 1925, that the couple, bound both by a marriage contract and by a deep unshakeable friendship, were reunited... for a few days only. Indeed, she and Philippe separated after her adoption of the young Lama Yongden, her constant companion in her explorations and proof of her trip to Lhasa (the feat that made her famous throughout the world in 1924).

It must be remembered that Alexandra had covered thousands of miles in the Far East and much of Central Asia, perfecting her knowledge of Sanskrit and especially Tibetan, which gave her access to the greatest gurus and thinkers. She listened, studied, wrote and went wherever it was possible for her to go.

When she got to Sikkim in 1912, where she had very close ties of friendship with Sidkeong Tulku, the sovereign of this little Himalayan state, she visited all the great monasteries, thereby increasing her knowledge of Buddhism, especially Tantric Buddhism.

In 1914, in one of these monasteries, she met the young Aphur Yongden, whom she later adopted. They both decided to retire to a hermitage in a cave, 3,900 metres above sea level, in northern Sikkim.

There, she was near one of the greatest gomchens (hermits), whose teachings she had the privilege of receiving and, most of all, she was very near the Tibetan border, that, against all obstacles, she managed to cross twice. She even went as far as Jigatze, one of the largest cities in southern Tibet, but not Lhasa, the forbidden capital. Because of these escapades, Alexandra was expelled from Sikkim in 1916.

After having withstood three rigorous Himalayan winters, disgruntled, but undaunted, Alexandra left the hermitage with Yongden and pursued her adventure. It would have been impossible to return to Europe in the middle of World War I, so after a few months in India they set off for Japan.

Alexandra transferred her many pieces of luggage and... her nostalgia from the steamship "Taroba" to the steamship "Cordillère".

She found Japan pretty, but disappointing. From a train leaving Tokyo, on March 12, 1917, she wrote to her husband :

"I was disappointed in Japan, but everything would have disappointed me in my state of mind. I cannot deny Atami offers charming sites; upon my return by rail, I went through lovely mountainous regions, but there are very similar landscapes in the Cevennes, the Pyrenees or the Alps (in France) ! whereas the Himalayas are unique.

Truthfully, I am "homesick" for a land that is not mine. I am haunted by the steppes, the solitude, the everlasting snow and the great blue sky "up there" ! The difficult hours, the hunger, the cold, the wind slashing my face, leaving me with enormous, bloody, swollen lips. The camp sites in the snow, sleeping in the frozen mud, none of that counted, those miseries were soon gone and we remained perpetually submerged in a silence, with only the song of the wind in the solitude, almost bare even of plant life, the fabulous chaos of rock, vertiginous peaks and horizons of blinding light. A land that seems to belong to another world, a land of Titans or gods ? I remained under its spell.

I went to have a look up there, near the Himalayan glaciers, landscapes contemplated by few human eyes ; it may have been dangerous and, as in the ancient fables, the deities took their revenge. But why did they take revenge ? to punish my audacity at having disturbed their home or my abandonment after having conquered a place by their side ? I do not know, for the moment, all I know is my nostalgia."

Alexandra would thus seek refuge in study, seeking to meet Orientalists, scholars, mystics. One of them, the philosopher monk Ekai Kawaguchi brought her a glimmer of hope.

A few years earlier, disguised as a Chinese monk, he had managed to spend some 18 months in Lhasa. He had fled, however, warned by the suspicion he aroused and on the advice of one of his friends.

Alexandra was fascinated by this story; it gave her an idea... They left Japan, too rainy and too crowded, packed their bags again and set off for Korea. The mountains, she reassured Yongden, reminded her of Tibet. She wrote her husband that, although they spoke no Korean, they would surely be able to get on within a few months.

She had some very interesting encounters in this country, but the nostalgia remained! Alexandra, Yongden and the luggage took the train for Peking... There were scholars at the Lamas' temple; they were Tibetan ! Alexandra spoke their language, everything would work out. Unfortunately, they did not turn out quite as she had planned and, after a few months, they packed their bags again.