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unruly1986
Sergeant
- 734
- 28
- 34
You and your fella?
Soon To Leave
Proud To Serve
- 1,291
- 0
- 1
I can remember the days when every man and his dog wanted a tour of Cyprus. What are the big issues now?
norfolkred1
Sergeant
- 902
- 28
- 69
Jointery ?
DT_Xtremez_42:
Gray
End of thread, Jointery, freeking Pongos
Cost
Cost
In this day and age where rates are being sliced, I believe that the cost of living in Cyprus has tripled while allowances have diminished. The state of accommodation was always poor and I believe that this has not changed (please correct me as my last visit was 10 years ago).
For singlies I think Cyprus is still an attractive option but for married peeps whose wives have to give up work or for those with mortgages, it is a bit of a struggle.
Cost
In this day and age where rates are being sliced, I believe that the cost of living in Cyprus has tripled while allowances have diminished. The state of accommodation was always poor and I believe that this has not changed (please correct me as my last visit was 10 years ago).
For singlies I think Cyprus is still an attractive option but for married peeps whose wives have to give up work or for those with mortgages, it is a bit of a struggle.
norfolkred1
Sergeant
- 902
- 28
- 69
Nail on head fella, I left the Sunshine state of Ay Nik in 91 when it was RAF and free from Pogoisms like Jointery shoite and being ran for and by the Army, boooo
unruly1986
Sergeant
- 734
- 28
- 34
Aki is setup for the married folk. I hated it at first, but after a summer out there it was take it or leave it for me. Overall I'm glad I came back to the UK early, but there's certain things I miss. As for Jointery, surprised nobody has mentioned the `grading boards` - cross trade equivalent ranks compared across the whole unit.
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I am sick and tired of all the whining bit**es in Cyprus complaining that their life is so sh*t out there because they cant get to their local Tesco or ASDA. IF YOU EXPECT IT TO BE LIKE THE UK THEN YOU WONT ENJOY IT!Someone has mentioned about the LOA rates but i have have just checked and by the looks of it married couples with no kids get in the region of £780 on top of their pay packet. I do see that single personnel are a bit worse off at £360 but what do they have it spend it on anyway? If you look at those kinds of figures then remember that you will be paying less bills with the fact that you cant get Sky TV and 95% of people dont take a mobile phone contract. Not just that but no gas and electric billl (or at least very little) and minimal rent.Try getting off camp and exploring Cyprus rather than sitting in your dungeon waiting for fun to find you.Oh, and your living in the middle of the Med with 10 months of sunshine per year!Yeah....completely rubbish
crasherkid
LAC
- 1
- 0
- 0
Gutted, i bet Netto isnt there either, only £780 would that even cover the all the sun cream i'd need. Stupid sunshine.How would i be able to leave my 'dungeon' when i love been stuck in traffic, i dont think i could could handle getting somewhere i needed to go in the right amount of time.No thankyou op, i think ill stick to my miserable cold UK life on less money thankyou.
Hey I'm with you and finally managed to get out here, If they don't like Cyprus then F*ck me the UK is going to be a shock. " unless you're a shiny F*ck who does F*ck all anyway."
B
bradders
Guest
wo wo WOOO .. no ASDA .. **** looks like i might have to get my posting cancelled - nobody mentioned there was no asda there...
as long as theres a morrisons or sainsburys i might just survive
as long as theres a morrisons or sainsburys i might just survive
Allosunshine
LAC
- 1
- 0
- 0
They have a LIDL now.
As for LOA, even though the cost of living is expensive and if your wife isn't working you're still better off than being in the UK money wise.
As for LOA, even though the cost of living is expensive and if your wife isn't working you're still better off than being in the UK money wise.
- 2,950
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Having been to Cyprus before and now lucky enough to get a second go i can with all honesty and accuracy say that it is far more expensive than before, LOA has been cut dramatically and as for rent if you live in one of the old fmqs then yes rent is still cheap a new fmq on the other hand is very expensive upwards of £400 I am lead to believe.
First time around diesel was 19 cents a litre now its close to €1.40 a litre, road tax is very expensive so if you are trying to save money then dont buy a big 4x4 (€700 pa). Exchange rate is poor FFR is a good 5-6 cents less than what you are getting at home.
Yes you do get loads of sunshine but as toiletries especially suncream is very expensive you have to do a lot of shopping online (Landline and broad band are double uk costs).
If you shop around and go local as much as possible it is still cheap especially good value eating out but the new generation of Cypriots have got greedy and are trying to make money fast, they have lost the community approach that the older generation had so small tavernas etc are slowly dying away and shopping malls with food courts are becoming the fashion.
Dont get me wrong i have totally enjoyed my time here but a decision to come here is no longer as attractive as it may have been years ago.
I am at Aki so cannot vouch for Ay Nik but I do have to agree with many of the others and say that the slow creep of the green machine is also making it less and less attractive
First time around diesel was 19 cents a litre now its close to €1.40 a litre, road tax is very expensive so if you are trying to save money then dont buy a big 4x4 (€700 pa). Exchange rate is poor FFR is a good 5-6 cents less than what you are getting at home.
Yes you do get loads of sunshine but as toiletries especially suncream is very expensive you have to do a lot of shopping online (Landline and broad band are double uk costs).
If you shop around and go local as much as possible it is still cheap especially good value eating out but the new generation of Cypriots have got greedy and are trying to make money fast, they have lost the community approach that the older generation had so small tavernas etc are slowly dying away and shopping malls with food courts are becoming the fashion.
Dont get me wrong i have totally enjoyed my time here but a decision to come here is no longer as attractive as it may have been years ago.
I am at Aki so cannot vouch for Ay Nik but I do have to agree with many of the others and say that the slow creep of the green machine is also making it less and less attractive
bubblebutt
SAC
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LOA has dropped, jobs for dependants are few & far between, cars are expensive to buy, fuel is expensive coupled with NO PUBLIC TRANSPORT, taxi's from camp extortionate €25 each way to Limassol, food expensive & limited, toiletries-buy online in bulk, the mossies will do your head in, housing expensive now as all are being accommodated in the new houses, Cypriots will rip you off at every given opportunity, extra duties come around loads due to the amount of people on camp, jointery means-doing everything the army likes, flights to the uk expensive-consider you'll need a hire car or very good transport options when you do go back to the UK-you do get 1 warrant per year to a limit of £300+/- to assist with costs, basically Cyprus is expensive, it's great if you like lying in the sun, you can do everything you want to do in about a year, after that you're doing the same old things over and over. I enjoyed most of my time in Cyprus but worked harder there than I ever did in the UK. The most annoying thing is the 'this is Cyprus my friend' attitude which means nothing seems to get done urgently! You will enjoy Cyprus but you're expectation of it will be better than the reality.
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norfolkred1
Sergeant
- 902
- 28
- 69
Glad I left way back in 91 when the RAF ran Cyprus, the Cyprus Pound was king, the Keo, Spech and Carlsberg were next to nowt. The Kebabs and Mezzes were around £3:00 a shot and the Kokkers was free and under the bar with the Zouvernier served from anything they could put it in. Shopping was easy, take it or leave it and you could buy any car as long as it was Japanese. Happy days and Yamas
The bad news is that it's really not worth answering any ads for Cyprus postings as it really is an awful place to live and work and with the reduced level of LOA you really do have to live like a pauper. The good news is that I'll take one for the team and will through my sense of loyalty to the RAF grudgingly take any Cyprus posting that remains unfilled.