IMPORTANT: Levels 21 through 26, set in Cairo, are interconnected. Some backtracking among them is needed to find all the necessary items. This walkthrough covers what I hope is the most direct route including all kills, pick-ups, and secrets. I have also included a CAIRO OVERVIEW outlining the basic path through the levels. This chart contains minor spoilers, such as keys and puzzle items, so you may want to avoid it unless you get lost/confused. The walkthrough also contains notes on what to do if you missed any crucial items.
LEVEL 24B: TRENCHES (revisit)
Updated: 5/6/19(†)
Kills: 4 Items: 3 Secrets: 0*
You return to the TRENCHES after obtaining the ROOF KEY in the CHAMBERS OF TULUN (revisit) and the second secret in the CITY OF THE DEAD (revisit), both of which require the nitro upgrade for the motorcycle. If you don't have this upgrade yet, check the TRENCHES (first visit) walkthrough and the CAIRO OVERVIEW for details.
STREET WITH THE PALM TREE (again): As you re-enter the TRENCHES from the CHAMBERS OF TULUN, turn right, park the motorcycle anywhere in this starting area, and dismount. Face the large palm tree to the east and look for the gray concrete bracket jutting out from the building to the left of the tree. Use the crossbow or revolver + laser sight to target this bracket. One normal arrow (or pistol bullet using the laser sight bug) will destroy it. Later, you'll climb along the crevice where the bracket was. (screenshots)
Now, go under the pointed archway to the north and up the wide staircase. At the top of these stairs are alcoves on the left and right. Climb into the alcove on the left, turn left, and drop into a shallow depression to find a large medipack. Climb back up, cross to the other side of the street, climb into the alcove there, and turn around. There's a sniper on the opposite rooftop (above where you got the medipack). You can take him out from here or wait until you get up on the ROOFTOPS. (screenshots)
CLIMBING TO THE ROOFTOPS: Open the trapdoor above the lower part of this alcove by standing at the edge, facing the handle, and jumping straight up to grab it. Pull up into the crawlspace on the left, crawl through, and drop into the small room beyond. Pick up a quiver of poisoned arrows. Continue through the next crawlspace to an opening above the STREET WITH THE PALM TREE. (screenshots)
If you didn't do so earlier, you'll need to destroy the concrete bracket obstructing the crevice in order to progress. To do this, turn right, crawl up the ramp a little way, draw pistols while crouching, and shoot the bracket. Then crawl backwards to the edge, hang, and traverse to the left along the sloping crevice. (This isn't possible without first destroying the obstacle.) Continue around the next two corners and drop onto the ledge. (screenshots)
ROOFTOPS: Now you're headed for the building across the street via the overhead bars. To avoid a swarm of locusts, stand at the edge of the ledge and jump forward to grab the bars, rather than just jumping straight up. This should prevent the swarm from spawning. (If you do encounter the locusts while monkey swinging, try saving and reloading to eliminate them. Just remember to hold Action while the game loads so Lara doesn't fall.) (screenshots)
Enter the next room cautiously so you're not ambushed by the soldier inside on the left. He drops a small medipack when you kill him. Go around to the right (left if you're facing the entrance from inside the room) and use the ROOF KEY to unlock the double doors. There is no visible lock, but if you stand facing the middle of the doors and press Action, you'll be prompted to use the key. Go through the red-lit doorway to another ledge above the street. (screenshots)
NOTE: If you missed the ROOF KEY and don't want to go all the way back to the CHAMBERS OF TULUN to get it, you can instead take a running jump from the ledge on the north side of the monkey bars to grab the sill of the red-lit doorway. Pull up and turn around. (screenshots) This is also useful if you want to avoid the locusts and the soldier guarding the door.
Take a running jump to grab the horizontal crevice on the next building to the north. (Aim for the right end, where there's no overhang.) Traverse to the left until you can pull up. Go around the corner to the right and climb onto a block ledge near a small, rectangular opening through which you can peer out onto the rooftops. If you didn't kill that sniper earlier from below, he may start shooting at Lara through the opening, and you'll need to take care of him. (screenshots)
Look through the opening and locate the electrical box across the street. Use the crossbow fitted with the laser sight to aim at the red light above the box. One normal arrow should be enough. Or, you can use the pistols. Lara won't auto-aim, so you'll have to stand near the opening and tweak Lara's angle bit by bit until you're shooting in the right direction. The box doesn't explode, and the light doesn't go out, so it's hard to tell if you've actually done anything. But when the box starts to smoke, you'll know you've disabled it. Doing so opens the big door below and to the left of the box. Return to the ledge where you pulled up, and safety drop to the street in the starting area. (screenshots)
NOTE: The cutscene that shows the big door opening does not seem to want to play, at least in the PC version. I tried it with various different weapons, with and without holding Look. However, it did work when I used the corner bug to get up on the roof and shot the box with pistols at close range. This screenshot, from that cutscene, shows the door opening.
TWO STAIRWAYS AND LONG JUMP TO STREET BAZAAR ENTRANCE: Get back on the motorcycle and drive around the corner to the northwest. Ahead are two sets of stairs leading up to the north. To clear the area, first drive up the stairs on the left. Run over a soldier at the top and continue through the doorway and down the hill, running over another soldier at the bottom. (screenshots)
Notice the huge pile of sand on the ledge above where that second soldier fell. At the top of the pile is a ladder, which leads to the level exit. It's difficult to reach the ladder on foot since the sand pile is so steep. (If you want to try it, see the note below.) You can make it on the motorcycle now that you have the nitro upgrade and have opened the big door by shooting the electrical box. Start by riding back up the slope and down the staircase the way you just came. Continue up the next hill but not all the way back to the starting area. Turn around and position the motorcycle facing the left side of the right staircase. This will give you a long, straight run-up to the doorway. Hold Action and Sprint/Dash to activate the nitro boost and race forward up the stairs, through the open door, up onto the sloping ledge directly ahead, and off the other side, landing on top of the big sand pile. (screenshots)
IMPORTANT: Later you will return to this area through the small, metal door in the corner. Do not park the motorcycle in front of this door or you may have trouble getting through. (screenshot) Also, It is possible to climb to the top of the sand pile on foot (see here for details), but since you'll need the motorcycle to continue from here later, I recommend making the jump onto the sand pile now.
Once you reach the top of the sand pile, climb the ladder and follow the passageway to the STREET BAZAAR. (screenshot)
REVISTING THE TRENCHES: You will make two more brief visits to the TRENCHES before finally entering the CITADEL. This sequence, which includes an enemy but no pick-ups, is covered at the end of the the STREET BAZAAR walkthrough.
*NOTE ON SECRETS: There are 70 secrets in the entire game. These are marked "(x/70)" in this walkthrough. To check your progress in-game, press Pause (P on keyboard, Start on PlayStation or Dreamcast controller) then choose Statistics. There are no secrets in this level, but if you found all secrets up to this point, you should now have 59/70.
†UPDATE HISTORY: 5/5/19 - First major update since this walkthrough was created in 1999. This revision includes many new screenshots as well as various other corrections and clarifications.
5/6/19 - Added detail on how to jump up the sand pile on foot.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Special thanks to the participants in the alt.games.tombraider newsgroup and the old tombraiders.com forum, without whom parts of this walkthrough could not have been written. Thanks also to Alexis and Kaitlyn for their tips about avoiding the locusts and jumping up the sand pile, respectively.
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