Tag Archives: Elephant Cave

Jumping By The Elephant Cave- Bali, Indonesia

Jumping, Trip Reports, ,
a man and child running in front of a carved stone structure with Goa Gajah in the background

While in Bali over the summer Kim, Lucas and I visited many interesting sites.
(Check out my SE Asia trip recap HERE.)

There was one site that I wanted to check out- mainly due to it’s name. (Definitely not the best reason to go out of your way to visit a site!)
When I first heard of the Elephant Cave, I immediately added it to my list of places to visit. I did a little more reading about the site and decided it was worth a stop. I wasn’t really going to visit just based on it’s name!

a sign on a building

The Elephant Cave (Goa Gajah) is a short drive from Ubud. From what I read, it dates to the 11th century. It’s name comes from people believing the face at the cave entrance resembles an elephant. In my opinion the face looks nothing like an elephant. According to Lonely Planet the entrance to the cave is actually the mouth of a demon.

a man holding a baby in a carrier
Inside the cave- statue of Ganesha

After paying the entry fee we were given sarongs to wear while visiting the Elephant Cave. To reach the entrance to the cave we had to walk down a bunch of steps and then pass by some bathing pools which had some interesting carvings.

a group of black statues with red cloths
Lingam

The Elephant Cave wasn’t a busy site which was really nice. However, we still had to wait to get photos at the entrance without other visitors in them.

Inside the cave there wasn’t much to see. We did a quick walk inside and saw a few small statues. According to my Lonely Planet guide-one was of Ganesha and another of lingam- ” the phallic symbol of the Hindu god Shiva.

a person walking through a stone tunnel
Exiting the cave
a man holding a baby
a woman jumping in front of a carved stone structure with Goa Gajah in the background
Nice Form!
The main purpose of our visit to the Elephant Cave was to get to jump by the entrance.
I wasn’t disappointed stopping by to check out the cave and get some fun photos! I felt that visiting the site was well worth it to see such an old and amazing carving. I’ve seen many old sites but this one was pretty unique and it was pretty cool that we could go inside the cave.
a man and woman holding a baby in front of a carved rock structure
The Michael W Travels Team