Goa Gajah is one of Bali’s most significant archaeological sites. Believed to be a former hermitage, the complex features a stone relic-filled courtyard before a temple and the focal attraction of a central meditational cave. The courtyard also has exotic bathing pools and sculpted fountains. To the unknowing, Goa Gajah’s name which translates to ‘Elephant Cave’ can be slightly misleading – there are no pachyderms here.

At the complex’s southern end are beautiful rice fields and small streams that lead to the Petanu River – another site entwined in local legends and where you can find more interesting stone relics submerged in the water. You can reach Goa Gajah west of Bedulu village and about 6 km east from central Ubud.