#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
void solve() {
  int n;
  cin >> n;
  long long a[n];
  for (auto &val : a) {
    cin >> val;
  }
  stack<int> prev_ge;
  stack<int> next_ge;
  stack<int> prev_se;
  stack<int> next_se;
  int dp[n];
  for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) dp[i] = i;
  prev_ge.push(0);
  next_ge.push(0);
  prev_se.push(0);
  next_se.push(0);
  for (int i = 1; i < n; i++) {
    dp[i] = min(dp[i], dp[i - 1] + 1);
    while (prev_ge.size() && a[prev_ge.top()] < a[i]) {
      prev_ge.pop();
    }
    if (prev_ge.size()) {
      dp[i] = min(dp[i], dp[prev_ge.top()] + 1);
    }
    while (next_se.size() && a[next_se.top()] >= a[i]) {
      dp[i] = min(dp[i], dp[next_se.top()] + 1);
      next_se.pop();
    }
    while (prev_se.size() && a[prev_se.top()] > a[i]) {
      prev_se.pop();
    }
    if (prev_se.size()) {
      dp[i] = min(dp[i], dp[prev_se.top()] + 1);
    }
    while (next_ge.size() && a[next_ge.top()] <= a[i]) {
      dp[i] = min(dp[i], dp[next_ge.top()] + 1);
      next_ge.pop();
    }
    prev_ge.push(i);
    prev_se.push(i);
    next_ge.push(i);
    next_se.push(i);
  }
  cout << dp[n - 1];
}
int main() {
  ios_base::sync_with_stdio(false);
  cin.tie(NULL);
  cout.tie(NULL);
  int t = 1;
  while (t--) {
    solve();
    cout << "\n";
  }
  return 0;
}
