Wow. Spoken like the true "privileged travelers" you claim you don't want to come off like. I read your "trust" post first, as requested, but... Trust while traveling takes some skill and discernment - if you haven't figured this out in five years of traveling, I'm worried for you. I began nearly 15 years of traveling when I landed in Cairo and spent nearly three months in Egypt. While all the tourist spots (Cairo, Giza, Aswan, Luxor, etc.) can be a bit harrowing, learning to discern who to trust and who not to goes a very long way, as does learning a little of the local language in order to blow people off politely when necessary. I've found this to be the case in any non-Western country. My experience in Egypt was vastly different, but we went for the culture first and hit up one of the hundreds of outdoor cafes where we spent hours hanging with locals, drinking coffee, smoking shisha and playing chess and backgammon. Wonderful people spend time there - instead of being chased by hustlers we were surrounded by Egyptian intellectuals and expats who gave us great advice on where to eat, what to pay for things, etc. In order to respect their culture, I also chose to cover my hair in public, and it made a drastic difference in how we were treated. I'm sorry you had a poor experience, but I am also appalled that you have lumped an entire, massive country of people as a "problem." UGH.