Some people have been asking online about the visa requirements for Ecuador and I don't want you to end up in prison for following bad immigration advice like I did. So here are the details for getting a 6 month tourist visa for Ecuador.

Firstly, the free tourist visa is valid for 90 days in the country every 365 days. It is multiple entry, but you cannot go to the border and renew it once it has expired (although apparently you can pay the border officials $200 to delete the record of your previous entries).

Police make a sport out of catching foreigners who overstay their visa and the normal "on-the-spot-fine" (i.e. bribe) is $100, but as the legal six-month visa only costs $230 it is better to apply for that. You may be able to apply from overseas but that would be very slow and difficult.

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Let me begin by saying I don't want to jeopardise Julian Assange's application for asylum in Ecuador. What happened to me here was unfortunate but Assange needs help and now I know how that feels.

So then.

What happened to me exactly? How did I end up in prison?

Simple.

I overstayed my visa.

Did I want to overstay my visa?

No.

I tried twice to renew my visa. First I went to Peru for a week and on returning the border official told me he couldn't issue me a new tourist visa, but I could enter with the remaining three days of my old visa and go to the ministry and get an extension.

My girlfriend and I went directly to the ministry and we were told that actually "you need 30 days to apply for a new visa", but "Don't worry. If you overstay there's no fine, and you can't get arrested".

They were half right.

There was no fine.

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I've found myself at the Terminal Terrestre in Guayaquil so many times now that I decided to jot down the prices and departure times of some popular destinations. Here they are for your convenience:

* sleeping bus, $17

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The Quitumbe Terminal Website has a complete list of the buses running out of Quito from the Quitumbe Terminal, but its really hard to look up the timetable by destination. Here is a list of the night buses leaving after 10pm from Quito to Guayaquil. The journey is about 8hrs and costs $9.

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Most travelers going through Bolivia hit the tourist attractions on the west side of the country before heading to Chile. Somehow I managed to spend nearly three months in Bolivia. My friends are intrigued by how long I spent there, so I thought I'd make a little list of the best and weirdest things about Bolivia. Clearly they are missing out.

1. Kangaroos Are From Africa

When people ask me where I'm from my stock routine is to make them guess. I have a few clues to help them out and the last is "Where they have kangaroos". In Bolivia I just made this my first clue and the most common response was "Africa?"

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Peruvian dancers celebrating Dia Peru in the Corso Wong, Lima. This style is called Caporales, and is followed by the Diabladas (demons) at the end. The costumes are really cool!

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An awesome Peruvian Hip Hop group dancing in the Exhibition Park, downtown Lima.

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Clip from a Peruvian Ballet group telling the story of two men who seek the attention of the same women.

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