The Western Valley, or Valley of the Monkeys is easily reached by car from the ticket office at the Valley of the Kings, although many drivers will tell you that it is closed because they do not want to drive up the rough road for 2km. The main tombs here are of Ay and Amenhotep III, but the latter is closed indefinitely for conservation. We glimpsed the entrance to it.
The tomb of Ay, near the head of the valley, comprises a steep entrance stairway of some 20 steps to get to the metal gate. After this, uninscribed corridors and a steep staircase bring you to the burial chamber.
There is one further, uninscribed chamber beyond the burial chamber. But the burial chamber is well decorated, most of the damage being confined to the cartouches as Ay was associated with the 'heretic' Akhenaten. The fine carved sarcophagus, complete with lid, takes centre stage, the protective goddesses at the four corners being particularly well carved. It was until recently in the Cairo museum, and has apparently been placed in the wrong orientation, the head being at the foot end, and vice versa.
The scenes on the walls are bold, with large clear hieroglyphs. There is not a large amount of text, only one wall being mainly columns of inscriptions. The two walls on either side of the coffin have various scenes, with the participants being named. The fourth wall is inscribed with the pictures of twelve baboons, each with a name.
I am reminded of the 12 baboons in the tomb of Tutankhamun, as seen in my books.
Helen commented that the green colour of the baboons was similar to the monkeys at
Knossos, on Crete, which were painted probably a few years earlier. I suspect the green here is more likely a link to Osiris, who is usually depicted in a similar shade.
A UNESCO report of the conservation has been published online. It is a large (51MB) pdf file, but very well worth looking at for the photography as well as the text.
"Conservation of the Wall Paintings in the Royal Tomb of Amenophis III - First and Second Phases Report". Download from here.