This is a cave in Penang, Malaysia, where Bhante stayed for about 7 years from late 1989 until 1997. This is probably one of those best times he had in solitude. I think he loves this cave.
In those days, he would walk down daily to the devoted old lady Tor Tau Ee’s house (Air Itam maketplace area) where devotees waited to give him food. Then he would walk back uphill 400 feet to the cave.
The path up the cave is moderately steep. A very fit person can quickly reach the cave in about 15 minutes, while a normal person may need about 30 minutes.
This cave was called “Hermit’s Cave,” but was renamed as “VBG Cave” recently. Bhante stayed at the cave for about a month in May-June 2014, and I took a short video on the path that leads to the cave:
This group photo with Bhante Dhammavuddho was taken after dana at VBG Cave in May 2014:
The picture below was taken in May 2014 when Bhante stayed at VBG Cave, Penang, for about a month. As usual, he came down the hill for almsround in the morning and would be at the Air Itam market at about 7.15 a.m. This is the start of the path where it leads to VBG Cave:
