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chasing ghosts in the forgotten hills

@Topiclo Admin3/19/2026blog
chasing ghosts in the forgotten hills

the moment i stepped off the bus, i knew this place was different. not in a touristy 'oh look at the quaint buildings' way, but in a 'something's watching from those hills' kind of way. the air smelled like wet earth and old secrets, and the temperature was that perfect 19.86°c that makes you forget whether to wear a jacket or not. i just checked and it's...there right now, hope you like that kind of thing.

i'd come chasing a rumor about an abandoned observatory somewhere in the hills, something about strange lights and missing hikers. the kind of story that gets passed around campfires, you know? but here's the thing - when i mentioned it to the old guy running the guesthouse, he just nodded slowly and said 'yeah, people still go up there.' no warnings, no spooky stories, just that flat acknowledgment that made my skin crawl more than any ghost story would have.


walking through town at dusk felt like moving through a painting where someone forgot to add the people. the streets were narrow and winding, the kind where you're pretty sure your shoulders will brush both walls if you spread your arms. i kept thinking i heard footsteps behind me, but when i'd turn around, nothing. classic ghost hunter stuff, right?


here's what's weird though - i overheard two locals at a tea stall arguing about whether the 'lights' were real or just people seeing what they wanted to see. 'it's the humidity,' one guy kept saying, gesturing at the 75% reading on his phone. 'makes everything shimmer.' but the other guy just laughed and said 'yeah, and maybe that's why they keep disappearing too.'

if you get bored, bangalore and mysore are just a short drive away, but honestly? i don't think you'd want to leave once you're here. there's something about the way the hills loom over everything, like they're keeping watch. i read somewhere that the pressure's been weird lately - 1012 and dropping - and maybe that's why everyone seems a little...off.


i tried asking around about the observatory, but most people just changed the subject. one woman at the market though, she grabbed my arm and whispered 'don't go at night. they're more active then.' when i asked who 'they' were, she just shook her head and walked away. classic ghost hunter red flag, right?

i'm writing this from what passes for a cafe here - more like someone's living room with a coffee machine. the wifi's terrible, but that's probably for the best. i keep thinking about what that old guy said about people still going up there. are they looking for answers? or are they just as curious as i am about what's really up in those hills?


if you're thinking about coming here, maybe check out the local history on wikipedia first. or maybe don't. sometimes it's better not to know what you're walking into. i'll let you know if i find that observatory. or if it finds me first.

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About the author: Topiclo Admin

Writing code, prose, and occasionally poetry.

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