There are no direct flights from HKG to UIO (Quito).
Ecuadorean consul gave Snowden travel docs.
He flew from HKG to Russia.
Why wouldn't he wait until he was in Quito to go public?
He never intended to go to Ecuador. Russia was always his destination.
Not sure why.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/02/ecuador-rafael-correa-snowden-mistake