Snowden Post for the Road: Where's Edward? Transiberian Railroad Route etc.
http://www.correntewire.com/wheres_edward_0#more
The Transiberian Railroad takes 6 days. Figure a trawler is as fast as a freighter ship: 22 days.
So, if Snowden left today, we should see him pop up in Ecuador in the first week of August. On the other hand, maybe we've never seen him in the transit zone because he's not there any more. So he could already be on the train or at sea.
From Putin's perspective, it's a lovely solution, even a piece of japery:
1) No pesky arrangements with third-party airspaces.
2) Another thumb in the eye to the dumbshit US spooks and their even dumber Ambassador for the Correa fiasco; Snowden wasn't even on a plane!
3) And perhaps best of all... Snowden caused Putin no little annoyance. So the thought of Snowden crossing the Pacific on a slow boat with no Internet is payback on the grand scale.
Anyhow, it's fun to speculate!
NOTE OK, so Guayaquil, Ecuador not Caracas, Venezuela. At least Snowden gets to the right continent!
UPDATE And from Snowden's perspective, things that don't go up in the sky don't get shot out of the sky.
Trawler Route:
?itok=MvQ3OsFT
= new reply since forum marked as read
(3) The long way
Also called “the scenic route,” this much-discussed hypothetical flight path would require specially sending a plane along an elaborate Arctic and Atlantic route to avoid any airspace save Russia’s and Venezuela’s. Estimates of the distance involved vary from 6,835 to 6,924 miles.
Pros: Good way to avoid extradition, as it avoids flying over countries that might consider grounding the flight. it would probably be a private flight.
Cons: Expensive, potentially unsafe and a little too made-for-TV. Not many planes can fly that long without refueling: Some point out that a Gulfstream V-series jet could do it, but those planes cost tens of millions of dollars. Companies that do business with the United States or are just worried about their investment might not want to rent them out for an adventure with such high safety and political risks. International air travel is highly regulated; Snowden would also need a flight crew willing to take the norm-flouting route. And most flights avoid spending hours over the open ocean, much less taking paths that might require dipping into reserve fuel, for safety reasons. Finally, if the flight has to divert for any reason, or is slowed down by headwinds, it could well end up in U.S. air space. And even a successful flight would require navigating around several Caribbean islands, some of them territorial possessions of the United States or Britain.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/07/09/snowdens-five-dubious-options-for-getting-to-venezuela/
"Putin's previous statement of offering asylum to Snowden as long as he stopped leaking was clearly designed to appease an enraged Obama administration. But is he prepared to authorize the smuggling of Snowden to South America in a Russian strategic bomber (or, better yet, a nuclear submarine)? And still there's no guarantee Our Man in Caracas would not be whacked, sooner or later, by a CIA contractor. The ball is now in Russia's court."
I see the Obama Admin as being focused and determined. And, they definitely ain't playin. the shit is real. But, being "enraged" is for losers and doesn't get you anywhere.
"Whacked"? I see no upside in even thinking that. Why make more of a martyr out of Snowden when he's already performed that task on himself?
OT, but your OP made me think of this movie "Transiberian" Good Flick.
http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Transsiberian/70084223?fcld=true
Eddie's dad is negotiating. That kind of makes sense with the difficulty of the trip and later Maduro's smile as he introduces him to the great Socialist Republic of Venezuela.
So that just may be the reason for the lull. Obama and Putin working out a deal? Ya never know.
Loved those pictures from yesterday of Putin and Obama, so funny!
John Schindler quoting from this:
http://runrun.es/runrunes/75726/runrunes-el-universal-11-07-2013.html
if Obama talked all the parties into a solution that has Eddie back in the US of A.
With his popularity ratings he'd probably get a light sentence, well maybe.
Si! Hablo espanol so I've been following some of the opinions in the Spanish language press.
I'll probably do a lot more of that if Snowden ends up in Venezuela 
Give him a sailor suit, and stick him on a Russian ship! He'd fit right in....
But here it is again:
On a Russian vessel, particularly a warship, it's not uncommon for them to call in Havana at all. It's SOP, unremarkable. They'd want him to blend in with the crew, though, so he'd need a new haircut, a shave, maybe a different set of specs or contacts...but he looks Russian enough for the Russians.
And while we might board a trawler on any old halfassed excuse, it's less likely we'd board a warship.