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 24A: TRENCHES (first visit)
Updated: 5/5/19(†)
Kills: 5 Items: 8, plus Weapon Code Key and Valve Pipe Secrets: 0*
You enter this level for the first time from the CHAMBERS OF TULUN, via the road at the north end of that level. (screenshot)
NOTE: You should have already been through the CITADEL GATE LEVEL (first time), spoken with Sergeant Aziza, and collected the NITROUS OXIDE CANISTER. If you haven't done that yet, refer to the CHAMBERS OF TULUN (first visit) walkthrough.
STREET WITH PALM TREE: Drive down one slope and up the next. Just ahead is a building with a low ledge and several striped columns. Stop here, dismount, and vault up onto the ledge with the columns to get some Uzi ammo. (screenshot) Continue eastward on foot, toward the low ledge with the big palm tree. Go through the doorway behind the palm tree into a narrow, sandy street. (screenshot)
SANDY STREET AND FORTIFICATION: The chute in the wall ahead is too steep to climb. You'll come through here from the other side later. For now, continue down the hill and around the corner to an area with with light-colored, square pillars along the right side of the street. There's a soldier lurking behind the first pillar. Take him out. Then continue along the street to the third pillar. Stop here under under the streetlight to reconnoiter. (screenshots)
There's a mounted machine gun down the road to the right. To avoid it, run to the left and jump on top of the sand pile. Lara will take a few hits, but she'll be safe here. Pick up Uzi clips and a large medipack. Turn around to face down the slope. From the right side of the sand pile you can scope out the location of the gun. Slide down the left side of the sand pile and approach the gun, hugging the left wall and stopping just before the doorway. Run through the doorway and around the low wall on the right, then crouch. You'll be safe behind this wall as long as you proceed carefully. (screenshots)
Crawl forward and around to the left, staying close to the left wall so the motion sensor on the gun can't track Lara. Crawl all the way to the far wall, beneath the small, rectangular opening before you stand up. From here, Lara should be able to target the gun, and it should still be pointing to the south, toward Lara's last known position. Use the revolver with the laser sight to target the red logo on the back of the gun. Boom! No more gun. (screenshots)
NOTE: If you don't have the revolver, you can still combine the laser sight with the crossbow, then use the laser sight bug to shoot pistol rounds at the machine gun. If you don't have the laser sight either, you can return to the CITY OF THE DEAD and retrieve the revolver and/or laser sight now. Check the footnote for details.
Once you've taken out the machine gun, pull up onto the ledge in the southeast corner, above the yellow fluorescent lights, to find some super grenades. (screenshot) Follow this ledge to the right, step down onto the sandbag wall below, and take a running jump to grab to the ledge above where the gun was. Pull up. Then drop through the hole into the tunnel below. (screenshot)
MISTY TRENCHES WITH FLAMETHROWER AND STEAM PIPES: Hop down off the low step and round the corner to the right. Do not continue forward or you'll run into a flamethrower mounted on a tripod. Instead crawl into the low opening on the left. There are oscillating steam pipes on either side of the crawlspace and a soldier in the next room. If you like, you can crawl forward just as far as the first pipe, in order to trigger the appearance of the soldier. Then quickly crawl backward before he can target Lara. Crouch in the opening and shoot the soldier in the knees with pistols. Then crawl carefully past the steam pipes. If you pause just before the first pipe, wait for it to cycle off, then immediately crawl forward without stopping, the second pipe should cycle off as you approach, so you can pass without injury. Avoid the open flame in the next room. The soldier drops a small medipack and there are wideshot shells inside the wooden crate. (screenshots)
Now to disable that flamethrower. Go into the alcove to the left of the crawlspace. Climb onto the ledge on the left and turn around to face the smaller opening on the other side of the alcove. Use the revolver combined with the laser sight to shoot the red triangle on the back of the flamethrower. Once the weapon is destroyed, you can target the soldier in the road beyond. Since he's not activated yet, you'll need to aim at his legs or groin, but two revolver rounds will do. If you try to shoot pistol rounds with the laser sight bug, he tends to get angry—which is totally understandable—and start shooting back. If all else fails, you can leave him for now and deal with him shortly. Don't bother climbing into the raised crawlspace, since Lara can't drop down on the other side of the opening. Instead, return through the crawlspace with the steam pipes to the street. (screenshots)
When you emerge from the crawlspace, turn left, head up the slope, then turn right at the next corner, where the flamethrower was. Shoot the soldier if you didn't kill him earlier. Then continue straight on, underneath a wrecked vehicle, to a T intersection. (screenshots)
Enter the crawlspace on the right, advancing carefully past the oscillating steam pipes. Pick up the WEAPON CODE KEY near the dead soldier. Crawl back out and continue straight ahead to a deep pit. (screenshots)
Once you have the WEAPON CODE KEY, the machine gun on the other side of the pit won't fire, so that's one less hazard to worry about. Grab the crevice in the wooden wall and traverse around the corner, above the pit, pausing if necessary to wait for the steam pipe behind you to cycle off before moving past it. Continue around the next corner, drop to the ground, and immediately turn right, draw weapons, and kill the soldier lying in wait. Climb onto the ledge with the machine gun to get a large medipack. Then hop back down and continue to the west. (screenshots)
OPEN AREA WITH WRECKED JEEP: When you approach the engine of the Jeep, another soldier comes at you from behind the square pillars on the right. You lose control of the Look button while standing near the Jeep, and Lara will also target the machine gun, making things even more awkward. So, approach the Jeep's engine, roll, and run back toward the pit, taking care not to get too close to the edge. Roll again and shoot the soldier as he emerges. When the coast is clear, stand facing the Jeep's engine and use the CROWBAR to pry out the VALVE PIPE. Go into the dark area with the square columns and find the wooden crate in the back left corner. Shoot it to get the large medipack inside. (screenshots)
BACK TO THE BEGINNING: Now return to the edge of the deep pit near the machine gun. Grab the crevice above on the right (screenshot) and traverse back across the pit the way you came. The steam pipe there should now be inactive, but watch out just in case. Drop down on the other side of the pit. Turn around and head forward, then right, left, then left again. Vault up onto the low step. Then climb through the opening above on the right to emerge in the area where you destroyed the machine gun earlier. Hop down and head to the right (west). (screenshot) Then follow the sandy road back to the STREET WITH THE PALM TREE, where you left the motorcycle. (screenshot) There are no side roads on the way, so you shouldn't get lost.
If you've already been to the CITADEL GATE level and gotten the NITROUS OXIDE CANISTER, you can now combine it with the VALVE PIPE to make the NITROUS OXIDE FEEDER. Position Lara facing the motorcycle (as though she were about to get on) and press Action, select the FEEDER from your inventory, and press Action again to attach it to the bike. (screenshot) Now when you press Sprint/Dash while driving forward, you'll get a speed boost. Just like when Lara is sprinting on foot, the sprint meter will appear at the top of the screen showing how much boost is left before you must release the button and wait for it to recharge. (screenshot)
If you're missing the NITROUS OXIDE CANISTER, see the footnote.
Now that you have the nitro boost, return along the road to the south to get back to the CHAMBERS OF TULUN. Continue with the CHAMBERS OF TULUN (revisit) walkthrough.
REVISITING THE TRENCHES: After this first visit, the entire northwest part of the level is still unexplored. You will return to the TRENCHES several times during your Cairo explorations. The second visit is fairly extensive so it has its own walkthrough, TRENCHES (revisit). The third and fourth times, you only pass through the TRENCHES briefly. These are covered within the STREET BAZAAR walkthrough. If you need help navigating among the various levels, check the CAIRO OVERVIEW.
*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 58/70.
†UPDATE HISTORY: 6/1/00 - Previous edit, details not available.
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.
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 Bo, Graeme, J.K., Sturm, Theo, and Wynn for their help on this level.
TO CITY OF THE DEAD - LASER SIGHT and/or REVOLVER: From the area in the TRENCHES near the first machine gun, crawl then run back to the west, then south, to get out of range of the gun. Follow the street back to the large palm tree. Get on the motorcycle and drive through the opening to the south into the CHAMBERS OF TULUN. At the rear door to the CHAMBERS, turn left, ride around the building, and jump the motorcycle across the deep pit on the left side. (screenshot) Then continue around to the south side of the building. Drive up the hill into the CITY OF THE DEAD. Turn left and go through the iron gate. Turn right, then left, to get back to the RUINED BUILDING WITH THE X-SHAPED WOODEN BARRICADES. (screenshot) Follow the CITY OF THE DEAD walkthrough to find the LASER SIGHT.
If you're missing the REVOLVER, follow the route above to get to the RUINED BUILDING WITH THE X-SHAPED WOODEN BARRICADES. Then continue along the street to the south, through a few twists and turns, and you'll soon arrive at the wide staircase near the start of the level. The revolver is in the raised alcove on the right side of the stairs. (screenshot)
When you have what you need, get back on the motorcycle, drive through the streets to the northeast end of the CITY OF THE DEAD, go through the gate, and up the hill to into the CHAMBERS OF TULUN. Drive down the next hill and around the right side of the building, staying close to the left wall in order to jump the motorcycle across the deep pit. (screenshot) Then continue around the building and exit the level via the street leading north to the TRENCHES. (screenshot)
TO CITADEL GATE - NITROUS OXIDE CANISTER: From the STREET WITH THE PALM TREE at the south end of the TRENCHES level, follow the road south back to the CHAMBERS OF TULUN. When you enter that level, get off the bike and vault up onto the ledge near the back door of the CHAMBERS. Follow the road to the right (west) on foot, avoiding the Minotaur if you didn't destroy him earlier. Turn the wheel to open the wooden door. Go through, climb the ladder, and follow the passageway to the CITADEL GATE. If you need screenshots or help with the Minotaur, follow the CHAMBERS OF TULUN walkthrough. When you reach the CITADEL GATE, follow that walkthrough, which explains how to locate the NITROUS OXIDE CANISTER and get back to the motorcycle. When you have both the NITROUS OXIDE CANISTER and VALVE PIPE, combine them to make the NITROUS OXIDE FEEDER and attach it to the motorcycle. Then follow the road back to the south into the CHAMBERS OF TULUN (revisit).
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