PHP URL issues

I've got the following url rewriting problem. on page 1 i've got this <p> <a href='page1.php?messageId=$tmpForum&userId=$user_id'> See </a></p> and on page 2 i've got this $messageID = $_REQUEST["messageId"]; $userID = $_REQUEST["userId"]; when i check to see the values of these variables its says its empty, but when i place my cursor on the link in page 1 i can see both variables being show with their values in the browser. But on page 2 i cant get the values Something seems wrong perharps ? Cheers --------------------------------- Now that's room service! Choose from over 150,000 hotels in 45,000 destinations on Yahoo! Travel to find your fit.