It's certainly a less-trodden path, but that's exactly why one intrepid backpacker wanted to do it. 

Rico Chee, a 25-year-old Malaysian writer and translator, crossed the border from Pakistan to Iran last year as part of his ongoing 6,200-mile journey from China to Istanbul. 

He talks to MailOnline Travel about finding himself as a 'guest' of the Taliban during his time in Pakistan - how he met a member who said he'd simply 'got used to' killing, and hosts who were incredibly courteous.

Reaching Iran via the Pakistan border as a foreigner means you're entitled to a free armed escort, Rico explains - but only for certain parts of the journey.

'I soon realised that the Pakistani army would to a great degree protect my life,' he says.

'Friends I had in certain regions were still very pessimistic about my trip.
One even tried to hide my passport because he really thought I was going to get myself killed.'

But Rico went anyway.

Through another Pakistani friend, Rico became a guest of several members of the Taliban while traversing the country.

He explains that in Pakistan he had an armed escort in the Gilgit-Baltistan area and also from Quetta to Taftan, the Pakistani border with Iran.

He was introduced to the Taliban before he reached Quetta.

He says: 'It wouldn't have been possible after Quetta where my every move was monitored by the armed tunceli escort and going out alone without them was also not possible.'

He continues: 'Most of the Taliban have never seen foreigners, let alone travellers before, so they were very excited to hear about my side of the story. 

'It was a very humbling experience to say the least.'

Rico added: 'There's a saying here - "If you're a guest, then you're a friend sent by God" - which couldn't be any truer from what I've experienced, even with supposedly brutal militants.

'I spent most of the time talking to them, trying to understand them.' 

He goes on: 'There's one conversation I had which I'll never forget.

One of the Talibs, who was introduced to me as "Alan" claimed he was fighting beside the Taliban chief Mullah Mansour, who was killed by the US drone strike back in May 2016. 

'He looked more like a Caucasian than a South-Asian or Middle-Eastern to me.'

Rico explains that according to Alan, the economic situation in his village was dismal at the time, so when he was offered 'a lot of money to fight for religious causes', he didn't think twice.

'It was a deal he couldn't refuse,' Rico recounts.

'There were literally no jobs in his village.

What's worse, when a major flood hit his province in 2010, it wasn't the government who first extended their hands to rebuild the village, but the Talibans.'

Even given this, many may still wonder how someone could sign up to a murderous cause.

Rico explains further that for some villagers, the Taliban were actually the 'lesser of evils'.

He says: 'President Obama's authorised drone strikes on these tribal areas have amplified the hatred of many of those villagers, not only towards the American forces, but towards the Pakistani government who were "allies" with Washington, too. 

'The American government thinks by conducting drone strikes, they've been "reducing radicalisation and terrorism" when they've just created more potential terrorists in these regions by making children orphans and martyrs.

'Not just him, but a lot of villagers could be and have been influenced into that too, more so if they've got their loved ones killed by the U.S army operations.

I think the U.S. drone strikes have motivated a lot of them to joining and for the first time in their life, becoming attracted to the idea of extreme religious fundamentalism to get hope, and the Taliban was the perfect salesman to pitch them, to capitalise on their extreme anger and frustration at the time. 

'It's due to a series of such events, that it's become a deal that many at the time couldn't refuse.' 

Alan's description of life under the regime is disturbing.

'He wasn't used to killing at first, but he's got used to it now and just didn't think twice about it anymore, unlike when he first started,' Rico explains.

'There was a time he went to a village with Mullah's unit, where they killed everyone that resisted joining them or giving up their money. At this point, he just couldn't quit anymore.'

When Rico actually got to the border crossing on the other side, most of his photos were deleted by immigration officials, but he passed fairly easily other than that.

He says: 'They just told me that taking photos wasn't appropriate and that I shouldn't do it again. I understand that and complied to their requests.'

Rico says his overwhelming take-home was that his venture was an overwhelming positive experience.  

Highlights, he says, included wandering the breathtaking ‘Little Switzerland' landscape in northern Pakistan, and catching a glimpse of the Milky Way while camping outside Tehran. 

Finally, experiencing Wagah, a crossing post between Pakistan and India. 

'Travellers cross over from one country to the other just like at any other border check,' he says.

'The significance of this border is the flag lowering ceremony held every evening.

Pakistan and India have a hostile relationship because of the unresolved Kashmir dispute. 

'Despite this, the spectacular ceremony is carried out by both - lowering their flags in precise synchronization each night.'

It should be noted that the UK government currently advises against all travel to certain regions of Pakistan - including the border between Iran and Pakistan - and all but essential travel to others regions. See Gov.uk for more information.