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Barkhang Monastery
Items: 44
Kills: 52
The Barkhang Monastery is a very popular place. It's packed with potential allies as well as plenty of foes. For Buddhist monks who have sworn off material wealth, they have quite a pad here. In order to help you not get lost, here are some hints to get you through.
My What Big Guns...
...these new enemies have. At the very beginning of this level, you will come across a new enemy that looks a lot like the other mercenaries, except they're armed much better. Be careful when dealing with these guys, as they can take you down about as fast as you can take them down. It's a good idea to enlist the help of monks to deal with these foes.
Unwelcome Visitors
You don't seem to be any more welcome here than the Fiama Nera. No one's going to open the front door for you, better look for another way in. The rocks on the left are a dead end. You want to find the ladder across from the front steps.
First Things First
The only place you can go is into the first room on the left, and up the ladder. Right away you'll find a key, but don't be in a rush to go back down and use it. Continue along the ledge to where that leads. The first two traps you'll encounter are giveaways because of the camera pan. Don't just stand there. Do something. Nearly anything will get you in the clear.
Decisions Decisions
Up or down? Nothing much to be done if you go down, so you might as well go up. But in case you're worried that you might miss something, don't. You'll be back this way soon enough.
This Sucks!
The sound of running water is said to bring a sense of tranquility. Well, if you jump into the pool without carefully looking at the water's surface and what's going on in the pool, it will indeed suck. It will, in fact suck you straight to the bottom where you have no recourse but to drown. What to they say? Look before you leap, right? Well, a casual glance will reveal a underwater tunnel on the other side of the drain. Remember, what you can't go through, you can always go around.
Soft Water
Well, it's softer than stone, anyways. Lara can fall just about any distance if she lands in enough water. Hope you have some flares handy. The next part is a little exercise in timing. Up the ladder to find some trouble.
Hey Buddy, Gotta Light?
So you've found your first prayer wheel. There's no water near by for Lara to put herself out, so you need to clear the lamps without getting lit. It can be just as much trouble getting down from the pedestal as it was getting up. The trick is to take your first jump from the top of the pedestal. Also remember that the pipes can make it hard to jump over, but at least you won't catch fire doing it.
Recreation Room
What's next? Enter the first passageway on the right, if facing the large statue, into a room that contains what looks like two billiard tables. (These monks sure know how to live it up. Are those really spears or cue sticks?) In the next hallway are some blades that you should remember from the Great Wall. A simply running jump will clear the first blade. Duck into the room for a needed item. Don't bother going down the rest of the hall. It's a dead end.
Square Peg
If you failed to notice the key hole in the second room at the front of the monastery, then you'll probably end up running around feeling like you're carrying a square peg, and there are round holes everywhere. The strongroom is the one that appears to be all boarded up, which in turn is the room across from the room that you climbed in from. It's not actually nailed shut. Those boards are actually a door. The key inside is the "rooftops" key. Think about this: does it seem likely you will get to the roof by dropping through a grate in the floor? The key hole is elsewhere, pal.
Lara Be Nimble
Lara be quick. Else Lara's going to be a great big wick! There's a lever that will shut of the lamps temporarily. It's then just a matter of a few well placed jumps.
Diamonds Are a
Girl's Best Friend
Isn't that what they say? Don't know if these things are diamonds, but they'll do. You use one right here on the rooftop to obtain another prayer wheel. The other goes somewhere in the main hall.
Need a Hand?
Trying to find where that second gemstone goes? You need a helping hand? That giant Buddha statue's got four of them. You will only need three of them. To get up there, while facing the statue, take the second passage on the right this time.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Someone left a really big tap running. There's no one in the tub, so you might as well shut it off. Another interesting caveat. That block must be pushed. It can't be pulled for some reason. After that, it's just a matter of some more block pushing to land yet another prayer wheel.
Burning Building
Next stop is to check out the first room on the right in the side hallway, where Lara will find stairs down to a close door and stairs up to a window. Well, the monastery isn't a burning building, but with the amount of firepower that's hot on your tail, you'd best think if it as a burning building and evacuate as quickly as possible. Outside are some monks to help even up the odds, but first there's some climbing that needs to be done. By the way, many people who leap from burning buildings to try to escape the fire, end up dying from the fall. Don't be a statistic.
Hallway From Hell
There hasn't been before, or will ever be again a hallway as wicked as the one you're about to travel down. You might swear it's impossible at first, but it's not. In fact it is possible to get through the hallway totally unscathed. Here are things to think about: First, the hallway is basically the same trap repeated twice. Figure out the first, and the second is a snap, just a bit more rushed. The two balls swing in an opposing rhythm over a hole, and when they are together at their lowest point, the gap is too small to dive through, so clearly you don't want to try to squeeze through in the middle or when the two balls are together. Can't see what the ball in front of you is doing? Remember that the ball you can see is doing the opposite thing. The rolling blade has more room to roll on the left than on the right. It's probably a good idea to get up while there's as much time left as possible. If you need more help, check the walkthrough which lists a detailed method for getting through this trap.
Fresh Air
It's nice to get some fresh air after feeling a little cramped up in that hallway-of-death. Down the trap door and up the courtyard outside. The way to go us out the narrow gate to the right and up the slope. The stone pillar in the clearing is impressive, but not the object of interest. Further along, Lara will find a remote building, that houses the last prayer wheel. However, the front door is locked from the inside and there's no windows to climb through. Perhaps Lara should check to see if the building has a sky-light. After collecting the last prayer wheel, it's time to head back. Keep those guns handy, because, now that you've got the means to get into the catacombs, lots of mercenaries will attempt to foil your trip back to the main hall.
Tidy Up
Time to put everything in it's proper place. There's a room behind the left side of the statue that has slots for each of the prayer wheels. If you've got all five prayer wheels then you're ready to go. Now you find out what the Seraph is for.