The Elephant Trunk Hill is a popular scenic spot located right on the Li Jiang (Li River) in Guilin. The hill is shaped like a gigantic elephant drinking water out of the Li River, and that’s how it got its name. I got to the Elephant Trunk Hill around 6:30 after I had diner, so it was still sunny and bright outside. The best part about it is that it was nearing evening, so the temperature has dropped. It was nice, cool, and breezy right by the Li River.
The Elephant Trunk Hill is a must see for any visitor to Guilin. The entry fee costs $25 yuan. Even though you can see the elephant trunk hill even without entering the park, but it’s so much better once you enter the park, and you get a much better view. As well, you can pay $20 yuan to ride on a bamboo raft that will take you directly inside the cave.
The Water Moon cave is right between the elephant trunk and the legs. Tourists can ride the bamboo raft all the way inside and through the Water Moon cave.
I paid $20 for a ride on a bamboo raft, and it took me right inside the Water Moon cave. In the photo above, the bamboo raft you see in the background is my ride, and I got off it just under the Water Moon cave. There was a local resident doing some fishing and was kind enough to take a photo for me.
There are also many engravings of various Chinese writings and poems on the clif walls inside the Water Moon cave. After spending about 10 minutes there, I got back on the bamboo raft, and it made a large circle around the Elephant Trunk hill. There’s really no time limit on how long you want to stay on the Li River with the raft (they don’t really limit your time). My entire tour of the Elephant Trunk hill and the Li River here took about 35 minutes on the bamboo raft.
Elephant_Trunk_Hill
I started walking along the Li River banks after I got off the bamboo raft. Not far away from the Elephant Trunk hill (about 500meters or so) is a small park, and that is where the above photo was taken. If you look in the water, you see several elephant statues playing in the water, and on the Li River bank, there’s a floating snack food stand. You can purchase some snack foods and sit right on the floating platform.
I would suggest budgeting about 1.5hours for a visit to the Elephant Trunk hill. I spent a good 2 hours there myself, and by the time I left, it was beginning to get dark.
