1. If you don't have a heating pad, fashion one out of a fabric bag filled with rice - heat in microwave till warm (but not so hot as to burn you!)

2. Snacking solution: chocolate cures all.

3. Get a good pillow and take it with you?

4. Have a nice massage to relax the screaming muscles.

Three weeks with a stone pillow and aching neck? No way you can fit a new one into your stuff when you leave?

If not (and I haven't done this myself, so not a recommendation from direct experience), make one from birdseed? Take a pillowcase and a bunch of birdseed, just enough for a smallish pillow, and then sew up one end of the pillow case (really, really well - someone you know has a sewing machine, and could do this in three seconds). I would probably use half a large pillowcase, filling it up inside out, then flip the extra pillowcase fabric back over the top so the good side shows. Might be worth a shot. Probably not something you would want to have over the long term, because I would be worried about insects, but for three weeks? Maybe an idea.

My neck aches pretty regularly (hey, I'm a tense person), and I find these stretches help immensely. Hold each position for about 15 seconds for the best results. Also, ice can really help--if it's muscle tension, the ice will force the blood vessels to dilate, flushing out the waste from the tense muscles, which is at least part of the pain.

Good luck, mdonley. A sore neck is a profound level of suckage.

I bookmarked this article a long time ago. Don't know if it's going to provide you with the instant relief you seek, but should help with future potential discomfort.