I was in SR in something like 2007 and then again in 2015. The amount of change in that time was astounding. The road from the ariport into town went from not too crowded to wall-to-wall businesses. I guess it is a bit of a conundrum. If you want to see it, it's not going to get any less touristed. But I would imagine some times of the year are better than others. And it also makes sense to branch out beyond the main temples. You can still have a relatively quiet visit and some of the farther afield sights. The town being more lively now than it was felt more positive to me. It's a poor country without a huge amount of natural resources to exploit, so they have to make money somehow. The corruption doesn't help.

PP seemed like it had become unmanageable to me. I did a trip through the eastern part of the country a couple of years ago so I was in and out through PNH. Traffic was nearly unbearable. PP isn't the sleepy little capital it used to be.