Apparently, it is customary for each contestant to give a talk before playing each piece. The talks aren't necessarily related directly to the piece. One contestant spoke about his fiddle teacher and another recited a poem. Our neighbors in the auditorium were typical of the friendly people we met all over and would offer brief explanations of the proceedings in English. This group does trips on three different rivers on rapids ranging from class 2-4.
Norwegian law requires everyone to wear full-body wet suits.
I suspect the temperature of the water has something to do with the fact that the company sends along an employee in a kayak for the express purpose of fishing people out of the river if they go overboard. You might not have been inclined to go the fish market with its scarcity of souvenir stalls, but then you would miss great sights. Whale meat for sale. Gargantuan piles of shrimp. And fish mongers decked out in Day-Glo color boots and aprons.