Tag Archives: Southeast Asia

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

Southeast Asia Trip In A Nutshell

Trip Reports,
a man and woman with a baby
We got back from Southeast Asia a little over a day ago and our schedules are a bit out of whack due to some jet lag. I guess it should be expected considering how much flying we did and the fact that we were on the other side of the world (12 hour time difference!).
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While Kim and I had been to SE Asia twice before, it was Lucas’ first time to the area. We all had a great time, met amazing people, saw some great sites and ate some really good food.
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Lucas was like a rock star/ celebrity during the trip.
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Just about everywhere we went we got stopped to have pictures taken of him. This was especially the case in Bali. Bali is probably the ideal place to visit for a baby that loves attention and being held. Kim and I got to eat almost every meal with a waitress holding and playing with him. We also enjoyed a couple of massages with Lucas again being entertained by the staff.
a group of people smiling and holding a baby
Here are some details about the trip:
  • Countries Visited: Three– Singapore, Indonesia (Bali) and Malaysia
  • Total Miles Flown: 23,898 (data taken from TripIt)
  • International Flights: Business Class on Egypt Air & Singapore Air using United miles
  • Flights Around SE Asia:  We had three flights with budget carrier Air Asia
  • Lodging: We stayed in a variety of places, all were fine. We also used airbnb for the first time which was an amazing experience!
a man holding a baby
Some Highlights: (in no particular order)
  • The friendly people all over Bali
  • Eating at Hawker Centers- We ate at three in Singapore and one in Malaysia
  • Wandering around Ubud and visiting the Monkey Forest
  • Visiting the Petronas Towers and going up to the Skybridge
  • Constantly seeing Lucas smiling, laughing and curious during the trip
  • Checking out the amazing wood carvers in Mas, Bali. We visited the very interesting Mask Museum, stopped by the compounds of a couple of mask makers and I bought a couple of masks to add to my collection.
  • Visiting impressive temples all over Bali
  • Playing with a civet and learning about the coffee that they make
a man sitting on a rock ledge holding a monkey on his shoulder

These are just some examples of the great experiences we had during our trip. I’ll be writing about many of these experiences and more over the upcoming weeks (months)!
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Make sure to keep checking back!