  We show that symmetric planar waveguides made of a film composed of a type II
hyperbolic metamaterial, where the optical axis (OA) lays parallel to the
waveguide interfaces, result in a series of topological transitions in the
dispersion diagram as the film electrical thickness increases. The transitions
are mediated by elliptical mode branches, which, as soon as they grow from
cutoff, coalesce along the OA with anomalously ordered hyperbolic mode
branches, resulting in a saddle point. When the electrical thickness of the
film increases further, the merged branch starts a transition to hyperbolic
normally ordered modes with propagation direction orthogonal to the OA. In this
process, the saddle point is transformed into a branch point where a new branch
of Ghost waves appears and slow light is observed for a broad range of
thicknesses.
