Egypt is definitely on my bucketlist and sorry to hear about your misadventure - but it makes for a good story!
Before we went to Thailand, we read up on common tourist scams and I can't tell you how many times that knowledge saved us. We could see them coming a mile away. I don't think you can be 100% prepared always (make your plans but leave room for live to happen..), but trying to be as prepared as possible will save you from unnecessary headaches.
I like reading your posts, very entertaining. You got an upvote and a follow from me.
Yeah, I learned a lot on that trip. Overall I was there for 3 months and had a great time but did learn a lot about how to travel. Most importantly, don't pack luggage if you are going to be on the go all the time. That was hard...