First time to Nepal - tips & advice

Hi,
     are u in nepal?nepal is very safe place for foreigners.and kathmandu is quiet noisy.i recommended you to stay in pokhara.it is popular for its snow mountains,rivers and lakes beauty and trekking is always here.some of the worlds most poular trekking starts from here like poon hill annapurna circuit.
          if you are looking for apartment in pokhara we hae our own apartment i can arrange for you.it is monthly 200$ fully furnished with kitchen free wifi.and we do airport pick up and hotel booking in kathmandu for airport pick up our fess is 10$ and our hotel rates is 12$.
                   any information about nepal.please feel free to contact me.
                                                                                                            with regards
                                                                                                                    jit

Great questions. I write a blog to help tourists to come here and have a better time. It's listed on here, frugaltravelsnepal.

But to briefly answer your questions, Nepal is a very safe, friendly place. The heart of Kathmandu, Thamel, can be like any major, capitol city. There can be some unsavory characters. However, unless you are interested in drug activity I would be surprised if you loose more than a few rupees with an over-priced pashmina or something.

food safety ? Do not eat street food or buffets.
police ? They have the tourist police. You should log in their number as soon as you arrive 014247041
nightlife ? If you want night life you can find it with even after hours in 'underground' type night clubs in Thamel scams ? Most NGOs are ineffective at best, scams at worst
crime ? Very little violent crime against tourists. We are pretty much immune. But sometimes the poor, Nepali in the rural regions become discouraged due to no work. When a trekker comes along and is too cheap to hire even a porter/sherpa sometimes they wait in trees and jump down to rob them. I know no one should be robbed, but please support these people. A porter will only cost about $10 a day and they really struggle. Also, if you plan to do some trekking please bring something warm to give to a porter or random person along the trekking trail.

It is a deep culture. If you don't understand you can get the wrong impression. Please take the time to learn about the culture before you judge it. This is a lovely country with some extremely hospitable people.

im meeting a friend in KTM and its our first time there.
any tips ? tourist traps ? food safety ? police ? nightlife ? scams ? crime ?

second we'd like to rent an apartment / studio with kitchen.
where's the most convenient area to stay at ? budget $250 to $300.

and generally speaking; how are the Nepalese people towards foreigners ?
how should foreigners behave / interact with locals ?
is English widely spoken ?
is KTM much different than the rest of the country ? how ?

if anyone can answer some of these questions it would be much appreciated.

thanks