As far as the cultural sights we saw in Bangkok: we stopped by a temple to see the Gold Buddha. It is often hard to know what to do at these kind of sights. It was off a main road and we took our shoes off before entering. The room was about the size of a medium sized classroom and there was a (surprise, surprise) big gold Buddha in the middle of it with some people giving offerings for the upkeep of the temple and other people kneeling down and doing some kind of praying or tribute in front of a monk. (Apparently, Lonely Planet says that all boys are expected to become a monk for some amount of time—perhaps a few years—during their lifetimes to bring honor to their family). We stood and watched for about two minutes and then left.