Pavel Konyukhov tries not to lag behind his famous brother Fyodor

Well-known cycling traveler, writer and artist Pavel Konyukhov, a younger brother of Russian traveler Fyodor Konyukhov who is known for his sea voyages, has completed his travel across six countries, including Russia.

During five months he covered 20,000 kilometers by bicycle. Pavel Konyukhov visited the Scandinavian countries, Austria, Hungary, Ukraine and Belarus.

As Konyukhov stated at a press conference in Vladivostok on Wednesday, his latest travel is an anniversary one. Twenty years ago he made his first cycling travel. Since that time Pavel Konyukhov has covered 174,000 kilometers across 43 countries by bicycle. He said that visits to churches and monasteries are the main purpose of his travels.

In May 2003 Pavel left Vostochny port for the Maritime Territory. The Italian city of Bari where one of Christian sacred things - the relics of the body of St. Nicholas the Wonder-Worker, the patron of all travelers, is kept, and the monastic republic of Athos in the north of Greece were the prime aim of Konyukhov's travel. But the traveler failed to get to Italy because of visa-related problems.

In the immediate future the traveler intends to take up painting. Pavel Konyukhov plans to reach North Pole by bicycle - a feat which no one has performed so far. In a longer term, Konyukhov plans to cross America, from Alaska to Terra del Fuego, by bicycle.