Three middle aged sisters, Christine, Shirley and Ellen have an opportunity to take off on a trip of a lifetime to The United Arab Emirates and Egypt. This is the first time the three of us venture over to another country without our husbands or families. Ellen's Brother -in-law who is in the Australian army and stationed in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, asks her if she and his brother Mark want to visit, he declines, so Shirley and I decide to take the plunge and go with her. Before we leave home our Aunty Sylvia gives each of them an angel pin with our birthstone to wear, hoping this little token will keep us safe while away from Aussie land. Little did they realise the powers they held! There, we take a few days trip up to the north of the country for a dolphin cruise and mountain tour with Rodger and Louise and their two sons, then are dropped off in Dubai to spend a day and night exploring this great city. While here, we go to a water theme park where Ellen goes on one of the biggest slides outside of America, we visit a Gold Souk to buy some beautiful pieces of jewellery, Shirley and I get yelled at by a cranky taxi driver and are amazed at seeing The Burj, one of the most expensive motels in the world. Before we leave Dubai, our taxi driver, a friendly Indian guy this time, gives us a quick tour of the city before our drive back to Abu Dhabi showing us a man made island being built and their beautiful Marina. We were in ore at just how much construction was going on in this amazing city. Travelled back to Abu Dhabi and visited the famous Emirates Palace and have afternoon tea with the Australian Ambassador's wife at the Australian Embassy. My sister Shirley always wanted to see the Pyramids so decide to include this in our itinerary and the three of us travel by plane there with a few embarrassing moments on the way. When we arrive in Cairo, it wasn't how we expected it to be, but overcame some stressful moments when we visit the Pyramids and Sphinx. Thought a camel ride and a dinner cruise down the Nile River would be fun but got more then we bargained for. Had a strange encounter with some really nice Egyptian guys in The Papyrus Museum. Just the three of us took a road trip down the east coast of the country, passing through Muscat, Oman and Nizwa where we learnt to drive on the opposite side of the road, not to talk to strange men after a bad experience with an Arab guy when asking him for directions and manage to get lost in the hills for a couple of hours due to detour signs. Noticing a very low tyre on the car, manage to make matters worse trying to fix it while being helped by 10 young guys and somehow find ourselves stuck in a narrow lane while exiting a car park. Enjoyed looking around a number of souks (markets) buying great gifts and souvenirs. We certainly got used to flights being cancelled or delayed, but managed to keep it together after lots of group hugs, plenty of laughing, giggling and having a good cry. I believe the angel tokens we wore every day had some sort of power and did bring us home safe.