#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
template <typename A, typename B>
ostream &operator<<(ostream &cout, pair<A, B> const &p) {
  return cout << "(" << p.f << ", " << p.s << ")";
}
template <typename A>
ostream &operator<<(ostream &cout, vector<A> const &v) {
  cout << "{";
  for (int i = 0; i < v.size(); i++) {
    if (i) cout << ", ";
    cout << v[i];
  }
  return cout << "}";
}
int main() {
  ios_base::sync_with_stdio(0);
  cin.tie(0);
  int n;
  cin >> n;
  vector<int> h(n);
  for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) cin >> h[i];
  vector<int> t, b;
  t.push_back(0);
  b.push_back(0);
  vector<int> dist(n, n);
  dist[0] = 0;
  for (int i = 1; i < n; i++) {
    dist[i] = dist[i - 1] + 1;
    while (!t.empty() && h[i] <= h[t.back()]) {
      int x = h[t.back()];
      t.pop_back();
      if (h[i] < x && !t.empty()) {
        dist[i] = min(dist[i], dist[t.back()] + 1);
      }
    }
    while (!b.empty() && h[i] >= h[b.back()]) {
      int x = h[b.back()];
      b.pop_back();
      if (h[i] > x && !b.empty()) {
        dist[i] = min(dist[i], dist[b.back()] + 1);
      }
    }
    t.push_back(i);
    b.push_back(i);
  }
  cout << dist[n - 1] << '\n';
  return 0;
}
