How to print correct path to file in .tpl.php?
It appears $base_path is empty, which would suggest your code isn't in page.tpl.php (where that var is commonly available, having been added in template_preprocess_page()).

To make it available to your current template, implement a preprocess hook like the following, which is for a region.tpl.php template file:

function MYTHEME_preprocess_region(&amp;$vars) {  
  $vars['base_path'] = base_path();
}