EXPERT CHALLENGE: River Ganges - All Items, Kills and Secrets

Early versions of this walkthrough stated that is impossible to get all kills and pickups in this level. Thanks to tips from Lin, Laura, and Zak, I have found that it is possible. Here's how....

OVERVIEW: At the point in the walkthrough where you must make a CHOICE OF PATHS, you should already have secrets #1 and #2. First take a short detour on foot down the RIGHT PATH toward the ruins. Go just as far as the riverbank and shoot the monkey that appears on the opposite bank. (screenshot) It's OK if the monkey disappears down the hole; you can get him later as you explore the ruins, but you must trigger him from this side or he will not appear at all. Now return up the tunnel to the quad bike and follow the LEFT PATH - ALONG THE RIVER, picking up secret #3 on the way.

When you come to the ROCKY SLOPE where the two paths converge, go after secret #4 as described in the main walkthrough. Then enter the GREEN CAVE at the base of the ROCKY SLOPE. From here, you can jump across the river to the ruins. After exploring the ruins, you must then make a tricky jump to get back to the GREEN CAVE in order to obtain secret #5 and finish the level.

IMPORTANT: Be sure to save the game and then re-save in a new slot before trying this in case you are unable to get back. You can save again in the new slot as you go, but do not overwrite the original save until you finish exploring the ruins and jump back across the river to the green cave. Then if you get stuck, you can always reload the earlier save and continue from that point. You won't have everything, but at least you'll be able to get all the secrets and move on.

WALKTHROUGH: This sequence is shown in a series of screenshots and in this short video.

Position Lara at the left side of the cave opening overlooking the river. The opening to the WATERFALL is behind and to her right. Take a carefully angled running jump, curving slightly to the left to clear the edge of the cave opening and land on the tree root jutting out into the water on the opposite side of the river. This jump is indicated by by the first pink arrow (numbers 1 to 2) in the diagram below.

Once you've crossed the river, go after the tricky ammo pickup described here. This is also recapped in the diagram above and shown in another video. Jump from 2-3, then 4-5. Traverse right to 6, pull up and jump to 7. Grab the Uzi clips and harpoons. Jump from 8 to 9. Jump around the tree, from 9 to 2 to 10, and then enter the RUINS through the doorway shown in the diagram.

At this point, you're on your own, but you can basically follow the RIGHT PATH - THROUGH THE RUINS section of the main walkthrough backwards. Keep in mind that you won't have the quad bike, so you don't need to open the gates since you won't be driving through. When you're done exploring, return to the riverbank opposite the GREEN CAVE (i.e., the area marked "Entrance to Ruins" in the diagram).

To get back across the river to the GREEN CAVE without the quad bike, follow the blue arrows in the diagram. First jump over to the jutting tree root on the right (10 to 2). Take a running jump across the river to the long, rectangular ledge to the right of the GREEN CAVE opening (indicated by the blue-and-pink arrow pointing from 2 to 3 in the diagram). Then take a running jump along the short edge of the ledge, around the corner, and into the GREEN CAVE. This is shown by the curved blue arrow (3 to 11) in the diagram.

The jump back to the cave is also covered in these screenshots and in this video.

NOTE: If you're struggling with the last jump and are playing the game using the widescreen patch, you may want to temporarily revert to standard aspect ratio (1024x768, etc.). This can make a huge difference here. Thanks to MrMyrddraal, for suggesting this in a comment on my video.

There's also a different tricky jump you can use to get back across the river. For this one, you need to backtrack to the other side of the ruins, where you'd normally jump across the river on the quad bike to get into the ruins. I won't cover that here, since I find it more difficult than the technique I just described, but you can see it done in this video by lkjkorn19.

Once you're back on the other side of the river, pick up the main walkthrough at the WATERFALL section and continue to the end.

If you can't make it back, either reload the save you made earlier before crossing the river, download one of my save files, or use the level-skip cheat. If you skip the rest of the level, you'll miss secret #5. But as long as you have the first 4 secrets, you can make up the missing one later in the Coastal Village level, which includes an extra secret. As long as you have 59 secrets at the end of the game, you'll unlock the bonus level.

[Return to the Main River Ganges Walkthrough]

Copyright © 1998- - Stellalune ( ). All rights reserved. The screenshots and videos included here were made using Fraps and the classic Tomb Raider widescreen patch by Mr. Fourblack. Feel free to copy or print this walkthrough for personal use. By all means, share it with friends, but please include this credit line so people can send me their feedback. No part of this walkthrough may be reproduced on another site without permission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Follow this link for details about this site's advertising and privacy policy.