"Burma?s dare-to-be-different regime has decided to skip the Industrial Age and go straight to the Nuclear Age in its bid to catch up with the rest of the world. "The rest of the world is developing faster and faster while everything in Burma is getting slower and slower," noted a Kachin from the state capital Myitkyina at the beginning of this New Year, laughing. "Even the trains to Myitkyina become slower and slower every year." A humorous approach towards the worsening economic situation is probably the healthiest way to face everyday complications and frustrations deriving from unsatisfactory or missing infrastructure. The latter can be power-cuts, frequent shortages of train and airplane tickets, or ridiculously slow mail service. Even making a phone call is a challenge in a country with roughly four telephones per thousand people..."