In Reply to: Why is it better to change money in Bali posted by lukef on Monday, 8. November 2004 at 07:34 Bali Time:
The exchange rate is higher.
You get more rupiah for your dollar & the difference goes a long way.
You probably will also get charged a commission here which will lessen that rate.
You wouldn't want to change it all here, lose quite a bit in the transaction & then have to carry a very huge wad of notes over there.
You may not be able to change all your money here before you go into rupiah anyway as they probably won't have enough.
I don't have an issue with dodgy merchants over there & have no hassles with changing money. There are lots of places that are just fine.